Chlexville
by Catheryne
Summary: Smallville twisted the Chlex way, based on the premise that Lex knew Chloe in Metropolis. Uses Smallville episodes as start off point.
1. Pre Pilot

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 0 : PRE PILOT

The top of a blonde head bobbed right behind the office desk. A small scuffle with the swiveling chair and a few seconds and muttered euphemisms later, the five year old sat in front of the laptop computer.

_Dear Lex Luthor,_

_I think it's okay that you lost all your hair. Don't feel bad. Mr. Luthor says you won't come out of your room because your classmates teased you. I heard him tell my dad. I saw your old pictures. Your hair wasn't that nice. It was so bright it hurt my eyes. I think you look cuter bald._

_Yours truly,_

_Anonymous_

Chloe jumped when the phone on the desk rang. She reached for it, but the swivel chair slid backwards, sending her sprawling on the floor. Her lower lip trembled when she stood up. Her chin was throbbing so much.

Mrs. Watson, her daddy's assistant, came rushing into the office and knelt before her. "Are you okay, sweetie?" When the phone kept ringing, she turned around and picked up the receiver. "Hello. Oh hello sir. No he's not here at the moment. Oh yes I'm so sorry for the delay. I was assisting Chloe because she fell. Okay." Mrs. Watson turned to her and handed her the phone. "Sweetie, Lex wants to talk to you. I think he wants to know if you're okay."

Chloe blushed and teared up at the same time. She was still hurting after all. "Hello," she whispered.

"You okay?" the voice on the other line inquired quietly.

Chloe turned around to see Mrs. Watson smiling down at her, watching her as she conducted her conversation. "Would you excuse me, Mrs. Watson?" she piped up. Mrs. Watson's lips formed an Oh before she retreated from the office. Chloe climbed up the chair again. "No thanks to you!" she retorted. "You got me surprised when you called and I fell."

"Oh really? Well who told you to email me anyway."

"I didn't email you!" she protested indignantly. "Why would I email you? I got better things to do waiting for my dad than email you. Besides Anonymous emailed you."

"Chloe, you sent it through your dad's account."

"Oh! Grrrrr. Bye bye now."

"Fine. Don't flood my inbox. And… well… thanks. You're not such a bad little girl. I didn't even know you already knew how to write, let alone type. You're going to be smart."

"Ugh. Pffffft. You're only eleven. Don't try sounding like one of the grow ups. And I'll see you at the party."

~~

_Dear Mr. Luthor,_

_I think you suck. Why did you go to university today? You know tomorrow's my birthday._

_Chloe_

**Dear Ms. Sullivan,**

**Stop grinning. I know you think being called that makes you older but you're just twelve. As for going to boarding school, you can blame it on my dad.**

**By the way, you think I forgot? I am offended.**

**Lex**

Chloe looked up from the screen at the knock on the door. "Come in," she called out. Mrs. Watson stepped into the room with a bright smile.

"Hi, sweetie. I forgot to give this to you when you came in. My, you are very stealthy I almost didn't notice. It's a good thing young Mr. Luthor reminded me just now." She handed her an exquisitely wrapped gift." He left this for you before the chauffeur picked him up.

Chloe accepted the gift with a grateful smile. She waited until Mrs. Watson left the room before tearing the paper. With an awestruck expression, she took out the digital camera from the box. A note fell out that said, 'I know your dad can't afford one, but mine can. Happy birthday.'

_Dear Lex,_

_I forgive you._

_Chloe_

**Dear Chloe,**

**I think my heart soared. Note the sarcasm.**

**Lex**

_Dear Lex,_

_Blech._

_Chloe_

**Dear Chloe,**

**Not a very intellectual reply. I must teach you the fine art of the verbal judo.**

**Lex**

_Dear Lex,_

_I cannot wait to learn from the master. So when are you returning to Metropolis?_

_Chloe_

**Dear Chloe,**

**All in good time. Stay in school.**

**Lex**

~~

"No! What do you mean you're not letting me come there? I'm going to grab the keys and drive to Metropolis now!" she yelled over the phone.

"Please," he bit out. "I knew I shouldn't have told you."

"Well you told me, so I'm going! Why did we have to move to Smallville? It makes the trip longer." Chloe grabbed her overnight bag and started stuffing it with necessities. "I swear I'm going to murder him."

"Chloe, I'm fine. And I need you to stay away. Nobody knows about this and I just told you because you'll find out anyway. With my luck, we'll see each other when you and your dad come over for the annual report, and you're going to slap me in the shoulder and make the wound bleed again."

There was a long pause and Chloe released her breath. "Okay. And trash the with any luck nonsense," she commanded. "If I don't see you this weekend I'm going to hunt you down."

"Yeah, yeah," he repeated tiredly. "My shoulder stings so I'm putting the phone down."

"Okay. And I hope now you know that there is nothing in the world with zero consequences. Stay safe."

"Sure. And Chloe?"

"Yup."

"Who were you fooling about driving to Metropolis immediately? You're in eighth grade. You can't drive. At least you better not be driving yet."

"Nothing escapes you," she snarked.

"I would say bravo but this brings up another concern about how you were thinking of rushing to Metropolis. I swear, Chloe, if I find out you've been hitchhiking I would personally search all recently arrived drivers and having them arrested by the PD."

"Oh shut up."

"Oh shut up?" he drawled out. "I think I just won this judo round."

"Oh yes, Lex. Relish this victory for the day will come when I will be queen of this."

Lex considered her remark. "All right, Chloe. That was a good parry. Let's call this round a tie."

Chloe put down the phone, still concerned about her friend's injury. She would cancel her movie date with her two new friends Clark and Pete so she can tag along with her dad on his business trip.

end


	2. You Be the Pilot Tonight

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 1 : YOU BE THE PILOT TONIGHT

Chloe ran through the winding corridors of the manor sobbing. She had her cellphone on hand. When she turned the corner, she saw one of the maids looking terrified. "Where is he?" she demanded.

"He's in his room, Ms Sullivan," the maid answered promptly.

"I can't believe he came here without telling you and I find out after he almost gets killed!" she complained to the maid who could really do nothing about it. Chloe waved her off and turned to the corridor leading to his bedroom.

Without knocking, Chloe burst through the door. She saw him lying in bed, covered from the waist down by a black silk blanket. At that moment, Chloe did not even take into consideration what he could be wearing underneath, since it was obvious from the pale gleaming skin that he wore nothing to cover his upper body. "Lex!" she said sharply. He was apparently too exhausted to hear or respond.

Chloe sat on the edge of the bed. "Lex!" she said again. Concerned, she placed a hand on his shoulder and he rolled over onto his back. "Oh no," she murmured, seeing the large bruise on his chest the shape of the steering wheel. Nobody had told her he had a bruise. Of course they probably thought that she already knew by the fact that _he drove his car off the bridge! _"You drove your car off the bridge!" she gasped, almost like she was only now realizing it. She slapped him on the chest. Having his injury hit made him wince and sit up on bed. "Oh I'm not sorry, you jerk!" she told him. "You didn't even tell me you were in Smallville. Are you okay?" she finished in a softer tone.

Lex Luthor looked down at the blonde girl sitting on his bed. A little young, but when you were given a welcome gift, you didn't really get to specify how old you want the girl to be. Wait, wait. Is this is welcome to Smallville gift? Then why was she hitting him and calling him a jerk? Lex couldn't really think. He downed a three glasses of scotch before he went to bed to dull the pain. Ahhhh… It must be some kinky roleplay.

Because she was pissed and concerned at the same time, Chloe wanted to scream. Instead, she got even more irritated when Lex smirked in his usual way—as though he didn't almost die and she had to hear it from Pete Ross, who narrated it like it was a fairy tale come true. "Are you okay?" she gritted out.

She was already getting impatient? He hadn't even gathered his bearings. A guy took time to be… in the mood. Okay no that's not exactly true. Seeing her blonde hair framing tear-stained face was enough to get him going. He edged closer to her, and she smiled at him. Lex cupped the smooth cheek with his palm. "I'm fine, now that you're here."

"Did you think I wouldn't come? I would have picked you up where you wanted me to," she berated me gently. "Years don't just fade away just because we lost contact for a year."

The roleplay was commitment, Lex concluded. Well it wasn't too impossible. Commitment he could do as long as it's only roleplaying. Still, that years comment made it a bit far fetched. The girl in front of him was a teenager. And he was twenty one. He doubted they could have been in a relationship as kids. Still, would you expect a girl in her profession to know a lot about math? He searched for words that a woman would like to hear. "I missed you."

"I missed you too!" she exclaimed. "I'm so glad you're here." Chloe threw her arms around him and hugged him tight.

Lex closed his eyes as a cloud of baby powder and strawberry shampoo scent overwhelmed him. His arms closed around the girl and he almost moaned at the pleasant contact. When she started to pull away, he cupped her face with his hands and leaned closer and closer. Her lip gloss gleamed in the firelight, inviting him to taste. He bet that it was vanilla. He liked vanilla. If he was right, he's spend the night licking every last trace from her lips.

He found himself sprawled on the bed, breathless and his chest throbbing like he's been pushed. The welcome to Smallville girl was standing over him snarling like a dragon. Lex backed up a little. Was this still part of the roleplay? She would probably be the aggressor. He wasn't sure he liked that. "Are you going to be the pilot?" he inquired calmly.

Her golden eyebrows drew together in confusion. "What?"

"Are you going to be the pilot tonight? Take the lead?" When she still did not appear to get it, Lex nodded in understanding. A welcome to Smallville chick did not need to be sharp. All she had to have she already got, if those heaving breasts were any indication. "Be on top?"

She appeared to be utterly disgusted by his comment. "Lex Luthor, what the hell do you think I've become? And… eewwwww! This leafy little hamlet is by far too tame to drive me to prostitution!" she screeched.

Leafy little hamlet? He had only heard this place called that from little Chloe Sullivan, the day his dad assigned Gabe to manage the Smallville plant. "You don't by any chance know a Chloe, do you?" Man, he was still drunk. She was weaving in his vision. Or maybe she was just that disgusted he already made her nauseous. The girl now folded her arms over her chest. Damn. She did those babies. But they would not be hidden, Lex thought happily. If anything, the action only made them press together more and made the cleavage show more.

"And what does this girl look like?" Chloe asked. Was Lex drunk? Oh my gosh, Lex was soooo drunk!

"About four feet tall with blonde flyaway hair. She's pretty light-skinned." He seemed to be deep in thought. "She talks a lot. And she snoops. She enjoys snooping."

"I may know her," she murmured, leaning closer to Lex. "In fact, I'd say I've known her for a long time. Even when she was in Metropolis."

"No kidding!" Lex grinned. "Small world. It's a wonder you didn't know me. I'm from Metropolis too. But I guess that shows."

That made Chloe chuckle. She bent closer to Lex, and he saw his eyes fall to her blouse. Chloe rolled her eyes. Some things didn't change. But oh it did. The sober Lex Luthor would freak out if he knew he was checking little Chloe out. "I did," she whispered. Her lips were almost a hairsbreadth away from his. She could feel her lips tingle with the warmth from his breath. "And I'm not four feet tall anymore, Lex," she breathed against his mouth.

Well who said cold water was the best way to sober up a guy? The way Lex's eyes shot open and he scurried away from her until his back was pressed against the headboard of his bed, one would think she had caffeine in her breath. Maybe she did, Chloe considered, she'd been in the Beanery when she heard about his accident.

"Evil!" Lex gasped in disbelief. "You've turned evil in this quaint little town."

"Don't be melodramatic, Lex," she said, injecting just the right amount of ennui in her voice to make her sophisticated. "It ill suits you." Snark queen, that's what she was!

Lex narrowed his eyes at her. If she thought she had defeated the master, she was sorely mistaken. Lex stood up from the bed, allowing the silk blanket to fall inch by inch from her body. He noticed the way Chloe kept her gaze steadily on his face so she would not look down. That was quite a loss for her. His silk boxers were attractive. He moved towards her. He had to hand it to little Chloe who was not so little anymore, she had some guts. She never backed away. Not even one centimeter.

"So Chloe, this is what you look like now." Her eyes never left her face, making her eyes crinkle even more. He leaned close so that his lips would be on level with her ear. "How about being the pilot tonight again?"

"You want me to drive?" she arched her eyebrow at him.

"Yes, Chloe, I wanna see you drive."

She bit her lower lip and looked down at the bedside table. "Okay." Lex stiffened. That was where he placed his box of condoms for easy access. What had happened to his sweet, innocent, albeit sarcastic little Chloe? Was she actually going to take him up on his offer? Chloe reached for the keys beside the box. "Nice supply," she threw over her shoulder as she walked to the door, jangling his car keys. "I hope this isn't for the Ferrari!"

"Wait!" he called out. "Let me throw on some clothes."

"If you're not there in ten, I'm leaving without you!"

Damn, Lex thought. Judo had never been this exhilarating.

end


	3. Your Metamorphosis Stuns Me

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 2 : YOUR METAMORPHOSIS STUNS ME

Holding the phone by the crook of her shoulder, Chloe's walked through the halls of Smallville High after class hours. She had expected that she would be going to the Beanery to work on her article, but the call coming in just ruined that plan.

"Why can't you meet me at the coffee house again?"

Lex sighed on the other end of the line. He had been explaining himself for the past five minutes, and never explained himself to anyone. "I'm surprised your bloodhound nose didn't sniff the pertinent fact that the entire town hates me, Chloe."

Chloe snorted in a very unladylike fashion. "So they hate you. Big deal. You won't get kicked out of the Beanery when you're bringing business."

"I just don't want everyone to be associating you with me. They're going to think up lewd scenarios, especially when they find out you've been hanging around me since you were just knee tall."

She chuckled. "I have never hung out with you when I was tall as your knee, Lex! You're not that much older. We grew tall at the same time."

"I beg to disagree." She could hear the smirk in his voice.

"Fine. You grew tall. I grew semi tall." Chloe pushed open the door of the Torch office. "And lewd? This town would never associate me with lewd. I'm not attractive enough to get the resident billionaire playboy to lust after me."

Lex shook his head to remove the image of her on his first night in Smallville, bending low above him that he could have drowned in the halo between her… He shook it again. If Etch a Sketches were erased this way, so could a shiny disproportionate bald head."I hate having to correct you again, because I know I won't hear the end of it, Chloe. But you are a very nice looking girl."

"Right. That's why you kept taunting me all those company picnics before you were booted off to Excelsior!" Chloe settled down on the chair in front of her computer.

Lex scoffed at that. "You don't understand, Chloe. You were a kid and I was a growing young man. If I didn't make fun of you, I'd have been gay."

Chloe grinned at that. "A valid point. One that has not been debunked yet."

He let out a soft chuckle. "Seriously, Chloe, seeing you again was a wonderful surprise. Your metamorphosis stunned me. You've grown very pleasant looking."

Chloe scrunched her nose. "Pleasant looking. Good. As opposed to the downright scary I was back then." She picked up some of the documents she had been looking over that morning and started typing. "That would give me so much advantage over the ethereal Lana Lang."

"Lana is pretty. That's true."

"Oh thanks," she replied sarcastically.

"Chloe, Lana Lang is a damsel in distress. You, on the other hand, are a woman of the world. You would never have to depend on someone to take care of you."

"Lex Luthor, men, you should be aware, are forever looking for someone to take care of. They seem to think it would reinforce their masculinity."

Lex shook his head before he remembered that Chloe could not see the action. "That might be true for the men that populate this town, Chloe. But believe me, in the real world, out in the city, you will be thankful that you're what you are. Men who need someone to baby are insecure. That's the only way they can reaffirm their superiority."

Chloe put her reading material down and leaned back in her chair. She propped her feet beside the keyboard. "You're saying that men like you, who are advanced and cultured and educated, want someone strong?"

"Exactly," he answered swiftly.

Her voice grew just a notch louder. "You're saying you would prefer someone like me over someone like Lana Lang?" she asked breathlessly.

He paused a nanosecond. "Yes," he replied easily.

"Well that's a first!"

"I'm sure that's not true."

"You calling me a liar, Luthor?" she demanded half-teasingly. "But no kidding. That's really a first. Lana is the Beatrice of this entire town, Lex. I swear that if I don't get out of this town, I'll end up like Emily Bronte and write in isolation, never falling in love, never marrying, dying alone, while Lana Lang alias Beatrice will flourish here, being place on a pedestal and worshipped for the goddess that she is!"

Lex remained quiet until he was certain that she would not be exploding with another rant. "First of all, step off the soapbox, Chloe. If you want to be elevated so much, I'll just order your own pedestal made for you and put you on it myself." Chloe felt her lips curving upwards against her will. "You'll discover I'm right eventually, Chloe. Don't worry about it."

"Hey wait a minute. You've met Lana?"

"Earlier. And apparently, if she's to be believed, we've also met back in Metropolis when she was ten."

"Oh she's to be believed. Lana Lang never lies," she said snarkily. "You didn't remember her? That's another first. I like that you're debunking all the usual male reaction to her."

"According to her, I was busy giving swimming lessons."

Chloe bit her lip. "Okay, okay, shame on you! Even I remember that. So she's the girl in that jockey costume."

"Aaahh." The exact day suddenly flashed back on Lex. "That was right after you came in to watch me and ran away screaming when you saw…"

"I had my arms over my head yelling that you were hurting… umm… Jenny Glover." Chloe smiled in remembrance. "I sat on the stairs and saw jockey girl, who now we know as Lana, go to the pool."

"Why didn't you didn't stop her?"

"And keep the nightmares all to myself?"

Lex laughed out loud. "So did I hear typing earlier? What are you doing?"

"Well," Chloe sighed, "if you're not meeting me in the Beanery anyway, then I'm just gonna work for the paper."

"That's the one you're doing with Clark Kent, right?"

"Yep. Clark your savior."

"Clark your crush."

"Still remember that?"

"How could I forget? You emailed me detailing your first kiss. I must admit, I was impressed with how you took the initiative."

"Well forget about it," she replied defeatedly. "We're very good friend. Just that. And he will never outgrow me except vertically."

"Now you believe me when I say you're short?"

"Way to change the subject, Lex."

"Yeah. Don't think about your unrequited love. What are you working on?"

"Oh!" Chloe's excitement level rose. "I'm writing about a bug boy. I made Pete and Clark go with me to follow the story. I went to his house and—" She droned on about her masterful search and discovery of the cocoon.

"Chloe," he groaned. "You have to stop this. It's only going to get you into trouble."

"Stop what? What trouble?" she asked in mock innocence.

"Remember when you wanted to prove that the pool boy was actually a merman during the night? You crept to the pool in the middle of the night when your dad took you to my house because he couldn't find a sitter, and my dad called an emergency meeting."

"I already thanked you for that. No fair bringing it up!"

"Chloe, you fell in and nobody even knew you were there. You could have drowned."

"Again, thank you for passing by and finish me out."

"I jumped in and ruined my new Italian loafers," he corrected her.

"Well I was worth it," she retorted. And then her voice grew softer, "Wasn't I?"

Lex grinned. "You still are, Chloe. Just don't follow leads that are going to get you in danger."

"Oh. Whatcha gonna do, Luthor?"

"Donate a library and get your principal to shut down the Torch."

"You wouldn't dare!"

"Try me," he murmured.

Chloe rolled her eyes upwards. And he'd do it too. Asshole.

end


	4. Mr Hothead and Ms Bullhead

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 3 : MR. HOTHEAD AND MS. BULLHEAD

Lex Luthor saw the flash of gold from the end of the corridor. With a newfound bounce in his stride, he walked over to the young woman who was entering his plant manager's office. He knocked rapidly on the open door to alert her of his presence.

"Oh good evening Mr. Luthor!" she greeted. He smirked and arched his eyebrow before closing the door behind him. "You're the one who wanted the drama of posing as strangers," she reminded him.

"The plant is relatively private. But I suppose Smallville is small enough that what happens here can reach the outside world," he drawled. "I gather you're here to pick up your father?"

Chloe nodded. "His car is in the shop. Why is he getting off so late?" She felt comfortable enough to ask her dad's boss such a pointed question.

"We're encountering some problems." Lex took a seat on the couch at the side of the office. He slumped down, finally able to take a more relaxed posture with only her as witness. She frowned and sat down beside him, encouraging with her eyes that he share what was bothering her. "The plant shows twenty percent lower profit than what was predicted.

Chloe narrowed her eyes and bit her lower lip, an action he was aware meant that she was thinking hard. "Have you thought about increasing the workforce? I know it's unusual but—"

Her words brought a grin to his lips. "While the rest retreat, we go full on and corner the market for when the demand rises again. Great minds think alike, Chloe."

"Well, never let it be said that I am of inferior intellect than Lex Luthor," she answered back.

"Debatable." Chloe frowned in confusion when she saw him open his briefcase. Lex drew out a copy of the recent edition of the Torch. He holds up the front cover. "You're dealing with the high school Mafia here, Chloe. The football players have a power all to themselves. They can hurt you if they want to."

"Oh they tried!" She told him about the incident earlier that morning when a jock threw the football directly at her. "Luckily, Clark caught it just before it hit my camera."

"And before it hit you!" Lex growled. "Cameras can be replaced easily. You could have been seriously hurt."

She fidgeted under his scrutinizing eyes. "I'm fine. Didn't touch a hair on my head."

"Lucky for him."

Chloe shivered at the cold fury in his voice. She knew that player, and both his parents and older brother worked at the plant. She had to be careful not to mention his name to Lex. She didn't want to be responsible for ruining the entire family's livelihood.

"Chloe, you'll have to stop this investigation and retreat."

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I don't see you retreating just because you failed to reach a certain amount of money, Lex," she told him. "That's your thing. Let me do mine."

Lex let out a frustrated sigh. "You can be pretty bullheaded!"

"And Lex…" She grinned and rubbed the top of his head with her palm. "Be careful because your cool façade is slipping again. See… you've got a hot head. Ouch!"

Lex shook his head while chuckling. He was about to tell her that her father would be a while longer because of everything they had to settle when her phone rang. She seemed worried and curious at the same time, something that scared the hell out him.

"Lex!" she turned to him. "Tell my dad I need to go. I'll call him later if he still needs to be picked up." Chloe slung her bag over her shoulder and started for the door.

"Where are you going?"

She waved at him while she rattled off the words. "Spontaneous combustion. Principal Kwan's car blew up mysteriously. I'm off to investigate."

"Chloe, I just told you to be careful."

"Relax, Lex," she called out, already at the end of the corridor. "I'm just seeing if I can get any information out of Clark, once more in the scene and the savior of the night!"

About an hour later, Lex decided to call Chloe to make sure she had not encountered any dangers posed by football players. When she answered, she was breathless. "Where are you, Chloe?" he demanded over the phone.

She talked in stage whisper, and this increased his anxiety over what she was doing. "I'm gathering facts."

"Where's Clark?"

"I left him and Pete in the Beanery. I'm trailing the jockstraps to a late night meeting!"

Lex tossed down the report he was going over. "Stay right where you are. I'm going there!"

"Lex, cool down. I know what I'm doing." She gasped. "Oh wow. The sprinklers are… sprinkling these huge bursts of flames!"

"Dammit, Chloe, I'm going there now!" He frowned at the message appearing on his phone. "Shit. My father has the best timing. Chloe, I want you to—"

"Say hi to your dad for me," she said cheerfully. "Bye bye." Chloe shut down the phone and started taking pictures of the weird phenomenon.

Lex rubbed his temples with his fingers.

~~

Chloe stumbled in the darkness of her living room. She had no idea who would be ringing her doorbell at one in the morning. Her father was still in the plant attending a very late and urgent meeting with the heads of the different departments in order to get a complete employee evaluation. Apparently, Lex had caved despite what they talked about. She peered through the peephole and was amazed to see who it was on the other side.

She pulled the door open to see Lex Luthor rubbing his hands together to ward away the cold. "What are you doing here? At this hour?" she hissed. Chloe looked around anxiously for curious eyes before letting him in.

They walked to the kitchen where she started making a pot of coffee. Lex was unusually quiet. He also exuded a cold fury that terrified her. When she finished loading the coffeemaker, she sat down in front of him and waited for him to speak. It had to be really important if he was willing to break his own rules and let people see that they actually knew each other. Although one in the morning was very late in Smallville, some people could still accidentally glance out their windows and see Luthor visiting her house.

"I talked to Clark at the Beanery," he said flatly. "He told me about the fire at the Torch office." Chloe shivered at the reminder. She had really thought she wouldn't make it out, especially when the flames seemed to just burst higher when she was trying to escape. "You suspected the coach having to do something about the fires. How can you be so stubborn, Chloe?" His voice rose just a notch, and it confirmed to Chloe just how angry he was.

Chloe shook her head in disbelief. "Well one of us has to!"

"What?"

Chloe stood up and poured them both a cup of coffee each. "I heard you're letting go of people, Lex," she told him wearily. "Dad was calming down a lot of people today."

Lex sighed. Chloe noticed the way he looked her over thoroughly from her head to her toes. "You're not hurt?"

"Lex," she said as she sat back down, "it's our will and determination that we admire in each other. That's why we got along. Don't fault me for mine when it's suddenly inconvenient. And don't forget yours."

He closed his hand over hers. "Just promise me you'll call next time. I don't want to lose my friend."

There was no way she could be irritated with those since, pleading eyes. She grinned and sipped her coffee.

"You're not getting off just by grinning to me, Chloe."

"Fine. I promise!"

"Good." He sipped his coffee and screwed his mouth in distaste. "For someone addicted to the stuff you are awful at making it. We really have to do something about that."

"Build a coffee house," she said teasingly.

"Ugh. One financial problem at a time!"

~~

Clark was missing and she suspected that the coach had something to do with it. Chloe talked to Mr Kent about her suspicion.

"All right. I'll check the locker room. You check the school."

Her heart was pounding as she looked for Clark, yelling his name and hearing her voice echo to her. Chloe tremulously reached for her cellphone. "In danger, call Lex," she repeated to herself like a mantra.

"Hello. May I speak with Lex Luthor?" Chloe turned around at the sound, but there was no one behind her. She gripped the phone tightly, feeling more secure knowing that she was about to get a hold of Lex.

"I'm sorry but Mr. Luthor is in a meeting with his father."

"Oh."

When she slipped the phone back in her bag, she remembered that Lex had the jobs of twenty five hundred employees on his shoulders. She shouldn't demand too much of a busy man's time. She hoped he mopped the floor with his father's butt though.

end


	5. Don't Need an XRay To See Inside You

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 4 : DON'T NEED AN X-RAY TO SEE INSIDE YOU

He was a beautiful man, almost like a real life version of a Ken doll. Chloe sipped his drink while he made his way to her. The moment he spoke, her heart deflated and her glance wandered over the crowd of people.

She sighed in relief when she saw her very dear friend striding over to them arrogantly.

"Ms Sullivan," Lex greeted smoothly.

Chloe carefully moderated her smile when she turned to him. "Mr Luthor."

"Could I speak to you for a moment?" He turned to her companion and arched his eyebrow. "You don't mind?"

"Of course not, Mr Luthor." The younger man vanished into a crowd after grinning at Chloe. "Maybe later," he murmured.

Chloe rolled her eyes and clutched Lex's sleeve. "Thank you!"

"No problem. I gather it's my fault you were forced to attend this anyway. I have no idea why Gabe would take his teenage daughter to a reception with two hundred fertilizer distributors." They emerged in the balcony and Chloe sucked in several breaths of fresh air. "So what did you do so wrong to deserve a punishment as harsh as this?"

Chloe placed her arms akimbo and looked at him strangely.

"Oh. Right. The torching of the Torch."

"Exactly. Something completely not my fault," she reminded him.

"This would just be reflex for your father, Chloe. You were in danger, and he had to take action."

"He could have grounded me. But no. He had to take me all the way to Metropolis and immerse me in the most boring event ever. No offense intended for the host."

Lex waved away her words. "Please. Even I can fall asleep standing up when I do this. Unfortunately it's part of the business."

Chloe grinned and playfully swatted his shoulder. "Not that I'm not thankful but how did you know I needed rescuing from the guy?"

"Chloe," Lex pointed out, "I don't need an x-ray to see behind the façade you keep insisting must be up at all times." He had leaned closer to her, his hands resting on either side of her on the railing.

His lips were so close she could feel his breath. They had not been in this proximity since he mistook her for the welcome wagon hooker. Chloe felt something stir in the pit of her belly and she held her breath, knowing she could not allow him to know what was going on with her. She saw his eyelids flutter and he was either asleep over her or he was staring at her mouth. Nervously, she moistened her lips with her tongue. "That," she choked out, "is a little worrisome."

He suddenly straightened and blinked a few times, trying to remember what they were talking about.

"But you know," she continued in an effort to lighten the mood, "it's the same for me. You can put on a whole Oscar-worthy act but I will always see inside you." She wiggled her eyebrows at him. She had done it thousands of times before, but now she felt so childish. "Scary huh?"

He nodded slowly, not taking his eyes off hers. "Very," he agreed. He tipped her shin with his fingers and leaned close again. Chloe's gaze ran over his face. As he moved even closer, she parted her lips in expectation.

Her eyelids fluttered close but she only felt the cool breeze against her moist lips.

Lex was now frowning at her with a look of utter bewilderment in his face. "I'm sorry," he whispered raggedly. "What was I doing? This is insane. It must be the night."

"The wine," she offered.

"And the music," Lex added. "I can't believe I was about to take advantage of your trust. You should really find someone young—maybe Clark. You deserve to have fun with a guy who doesn't have as much burden as I do, Chloe."

She watched him flee from her presence like she was the scourge. She sighed and looked out. At least she had a nice view of the garden from here.

Clark didn't exactly want her.

And she hadn't had any wine tonight.

It was almost like in some of those stray dreams when Lex suddenly burst back to the balcony. If these were one of those, he would tear his silk shirt off his body, with the buttons popping out and rolling on the floor. And then he'd take her in his arms and suck the breath out of her lungs in sheer passion.

But since this was reality, he just took her hand and said clearly, "I have to go back to Smallville immediately. The sheriff just called. I apparently robbed a bank a few minutes ago."

Chloe stared after him and decided she had to get her father to allow her to go home already.

The next afternoon, hanging out with her two best friends, Chloe noticed how oddly Clark behaved towards Tina Greer. When Clark asked if they saw the weird air around the girl, Pete told him that it was all in his head.

Good old Pete, who would always be the one to spy any changes. He threw his arm around her and inquired, "So where were you during this entire fiasco was happening? I was surprised to know you weren't taking pictures of the robbery. That way, we would have gotten Luthor well and good!"

"Oh I was in Metropolis with my dad," she casually mentioned.

"Funny. That's the alibi Lex is using," Pete told her. "You didn't by any chance see him there, did you?"

Chloe opened her mouth to answer but the bell rang. She waved to Pete and hurried to her next class.

**Dear Chloe,**

**I didn't want to have to leave so soon last night. There are things we have to talk about. I'll pass by your house later tonight.**

**Lex**

_Dear Mr Luthor,_

_I don't know what time I'll be home. I have research to do for a friend. Don't worry about anything. Just forget about last night. We don't really have anything to talk about._

_The night was nice; the music was romantic; you had wine._

_Nothing happened._

_I am taking your advice though. From now on, I'll open my eyes to the potential of the boys from this school. So you won't be seeing a lot of me for a while. You understand._

_Chloe Sullivan_

end


	6. Act Cool Like Nothing Happened

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 5 : ACT COOL COZ NOTHING HAPPENED

Chloe shivered in excitement as she and Clark walked to the open air party. This was just what she needed to get away from all the confusion the return of one bald and hot friend brought. She didn't even know how to act around him now. After that near miss in Metropolis, he wasn't just Lex Luthor, the arrogant but passable son of her father's boss. Now he was even her dad's boss. And aside from that was the little fact that she wasn't exactly just thinking of him the way she always did before.

Before she called Clark to take her, she was reading an email that Lex had once again sent. Did that man absolutely not get a clue? He was a genius right? Summa cum laude, my ass! She had made it point never to answer the phone because she spoke to him, she would just get disappointed again. So now he had taken to repeating the exact same thing he had already told her in email.

Right. She deserves someone younger. Noted. She deserves someone who didn't have as much baggage as he did. Like that was possible. Lex had so many clothes she'd like to see him dressed like a woman. He had more than those Beverly Hills teens put together. She shuddered at that thought. Seeing him in drag would probably make her lose her respect of him completely.

She could probably recite by heart Lex's pathetic attempt to cover up the fact that he just didn't want her. Chloe rolled her eyes. She would not let her supreme unattractiveness ruin what was shaping up to be a possibly average night. She had told herself over and over. She would not be like Clark. That was the worst thing ever, dreaming over someone utterly unattainable. She glanced at her 'date' and found him staring like a wet chick at the Homecoming Queen and King who were cuddling by the fire. Ugh.

Chloe plopped down in front of the fire and busily rubbed her hands together to warm them. Nobody told her it was going to be this cold! Now if she only had… No! He did not want her. Hell, he didn't even need her. He probably has all those gorgeous women waiting for his call from one wing of his castle. Sort of like a harem. He could certainly afford one.

And at that exact nadir of her pride, cute, popular and cool jock Sean asked for her number. Hey, she was a girl!

~~

He'd never believed his acquaintances before when they said keeping women happy and satisfied was hard work. It had always been natural to him. He walked; they followed. He smirked; they swooned. He called; they came. But for the life of him, Lex Luthor had never had to ask to be put back in a woman's good graces.

He rapped on the Sullivan's door and nodded his head when Gabe answered. "Good evening, Gabe. May I talk to your daughter please?"

Gabe Sullivan pulled off his reading classes and motioned for his boss to enter. "She's out tonight. What did she do now?"

Lex chuckled and shook his head. "We just had a small misunderstanding. I thought it would be best to settle it here. She won't feel like she has to watch her language when we're on her turf."

"Don't let her bully you," Gabe advised. "She's not a child you're supposed to patronize anymore."

Oh boy. Didn't he know that! "Well I suppose I should get going then."

"Clark picked her up," Gabe said. "Poor kid. I don't know what they'll do with the farm falling apart and all."

Lex narrowed his eyes. "What do you mean, Gabe?"

"The Kents are having trouble keeping the farm afloat," Gabe informed his boss carefully. Sure, the rest of Smallville thought of him as the son of the devil himself, but he had watched this kid grow. He knew where he could trust the man. If Jonathan found out that he was doing this, he'll probably chop his head off. Chloe cared about Clark though. And if Jonathan won't get off his butt and do something drastic, he and Martha would be out of a home. "They'll probably need infusion of cash and fast."

Lex took a seat on one of the kitchen stools. "Tell me, Gabe. What do you think of me investing in the farm?"

"I'd say that it's a very unsound business plan, Lex," Gabe told him honestly. "But amazingly enough, that's going to be the best decision you'll ever make."

"Good," he said curtly. "I need you to do some extra work for me and get me some files on the Kent Farm. Leave it on my desk tomorrow and I'll figure out how best to approach the situation, and just how much I'll be offering them." Lex stood up. "Just ask your daughter to call me when she comes back, okay?"

"Chloe is a stubborn child," Gabe admitted apologetically.

"Woman, Gabe," Lex corrected him. "Your daughter's a stubborn woman, or do you want her to get pissed when she hears how you referred to her?"

Gabe chuckled and closed the door after him. Chloe was pretty lucky to have a friend like Lex.

Not a half hour later, Gabe heard Chloe come in through the door, floating through the air. "Fun night, sweetheart?"

"It was okay," she said, beaming brightly.

"And okay turns you to a toothpaste commercial?" Chloe just grinned at him. "Lex dropped by looking for you. What's going on, Chloe? Did you two have a fight?"

"Oh nothing happened," she answered too quickly. "In fact, I think I'll call him right now. Make sure there's no misunderstanding."

Chloe reached for the cordless phone, kissed her father on the cheek and ran up the stairs, her fingers flying over the dials punching in Lex's number. "Hey Lex," she greeted. Act cool, Chloe. Nothing happened. "So how was your day? Oh really." Aha. He was acting cool too, huh. Fine. If that's how he wanted the game played. "Radiohead concert?" Ohhhhhh. "I can't," she forced sadness in her voice. "I have tons of homework due, Lex. I'm sure you can find someone else to go with you. You have plenty of friends.. fine, acquaintances. That's sweet, but I can't. Really. Besides," she said breathlessly, "I'm probably going to be busy. I met this absolutely cool young guy," she stressed, "at the party tonight. He's giving me a call tomorrow." There was a slight pause. "Oh you have to go? Okay. Bye Lex."

Chloe turned the phone off and dropped it on the floor, and then she collapsed on the bed and muffled her mouth with the pillow. "AAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHHH!"

~~

Lex took a deep calming breath as he struggled to remain composed despite Jonathan Kent's very trying attitude. He glanced behind him and saw Martha Kent pacifying her husband. Lex merely poured himself a double. This had not been the plan for tonight. Tonight was supposed to be a night of Radiohead with his good friend Chloe. Now he's offering Jonathan Kent a lifesaver check and being mauled in the process while their son was off gallivanting with his heart's desire using tickets he bought to take Chloe out. Coupled with the fact that Clark petulantly told him that Chloe was going on a non-date with a jock tonight, Lex's evening was just dandy.

He really was not enjoying the night. He slipped his hand into his pocket and drew out his cellphone. At least Chloe was smart enough to insist that she and her non-date just meet at the Torch office. It was easier to check on her there than in other establishments. He was sure that she would answer the Torch phone. If it were Clark or Pete, he could easily pretend that he was calling Clark. He really did not want people to gossip about how he was familiar enough with Chloe Sullivan that she was taking calls from him.

Lex dialed the number of the newspaper office when the door burst open and Whitney Fordman, probably Chloe's dates teammate come to think about it, came in supporting a limping Lana Lang. Just great. He dropped the phone back into his pocket and walked to greet his guests.

A couple of hours later, although it seemed like longer, Lex Luthor parked his silver car in the Sullivan driveway. If it were any other town, he would probably not leave his car in plain sight. But since this was Smallville he was sure no one would see it. The place had the small town down pat and he knew that the only ones left awake right now would be those of them who were almost migrants—children of Metropolis taking a break from the fast life and settling here.

He rang the doorbell and the door slowly opened. "Hey."

"Lex. How did the meeting go?"

There was nothing to answer except, "Jonathan Kent is a hard, stubborn man." And even though he was sure that Gabe was probably as awake as he was. "Sorry for waking you."

Gabe Sullivan allowed the little boy who grew up to be his boss to step inside the house. He locked the door behind them. "You didn't wake me. I'm staying up anyway. I have to give Chloe her medicine in an hour," he informed Lex while rubbing the bridge of his nose tiredly.

Lex turned around. "What's wrong with her?" Already, his gaze strayed to the stairs leading up to her bedroom.

"Just running a fever. Have you been watching the news?" At Lex's nod, Gabe continued, "Well she was attacked by that Sean kid earlier at school."

"What happened? Is she okay?" His throat worked convulsively at the thought of Chloe getting her body heat sucked out of her while he was entertaining people who never cared about him the way she always did.

"Yeah," Gabe said soothingly. "Good thing that Clark was there. He was able to distract him and give her a chance to run. She's got a foot up to her calf but she's going to be fine, especially once the fever drops. I just wish Clark saw her home here instead of rushing off. She stayed in the Torch office researching when she should have gone home, dried off and drunk some hot chocolate."

"You know better than to expect that girl to do what normal, rational people do after a traumatic experience," Lex chided Gabe. "Listen, I need you to be at the plant early tomorrow so just go to bed. I'll give Chloe her medicine."

Gabe frowned uncertainly. "I don't know, Lex. I do need to oversee the delivery of the new supplies but I don't want to bother you."

"I've known this girl for ten years, Gabe. Do you actually think it's a big deal that I'd want to help out when she's out of commission?" Lex asked pointedly.

When he finally got Gabe Sullivan to agree, Lex made his way to Chloe's bedroom and saw her sleeping restlessly. He sat beside her and touched her forehead. The fever was slight, probably because of the earlier dosage that her father had administered. Lex brushed the hair off her face.

Chloe's eyelids fluttered. "Lex," she said faintly, "what are you doing here?"

"I heard someone finally brought my favorite reporter down," he told her softly.

"No," she murmured. "No, Sean didn't take me down. The ice did."

"Oh. So how are you?"

"Sorry."

"Hey it was my fault."

"Sorry I dated a meteor freak." She yawned. "That's hardly your fault."

Lex pretended to think for a second. "I'd love to say it's your bad judgment of people, but that would be against me. And remember, I suggested you see someone from school."

Chloe groaned. "Lex, my mind is too sluggish right now for verbal judo," she complained. "I'll lose and you'd be taking advantage!"

"Fine. We'll continue this tomorrow so you go back to sleep and recover your snark." He leaned to place a kiss on your forehead. "I'll wake you up in an hour to drink your medicine."

"You taking on the role of my dad gives me the creeps, Lex."

"Sleep," he informed her. "Chloe Sullivan can do better than that."

Chloe closed her eyes. If he thought fever took away all her wit, he was very very mistaken. "Playing my daddy now doesn't erase the fact that we almost—almost—" But she was too danged tired. 

fin


	7. Where is the Hourglass?

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 6 : WHERE IS THE HOURGLASS?

Chloe tapped her pen on the plastic box in front of her as she waited impatiently for the digital clock to beep. She had listed thirty words on her pad already and this game was definitely hers. She adjusted the pillow she was plopped on.

"It's just not the same with a digital timer," she mentioned offhandedly. "I think the sand timer is an integral part of this game. Don't you agree?"

Lex grunted his answer, which she could not be sure of really. Lex grunts his yeses and nos in the same rude manner. Truthfully, she had been rather surprised when Lex invited her to his place to have a rousing (right!) game of word factory. He always won at this despite her delusions of having a vast vocabulary. But for the past three games, Chloe had been winning. He was apparently not in a game mood, but Chloe decided she could take advantage of it for a few games. It wasn't often that she beat the master.

The small digital clock finally beeped, much to her wakefulness' relief. Chloe reached out to turn it off. "I have thirty words. Who goes first?"

Lex's eyes scanned her face before saying, "I will." He picked up his list and went down the words. Chloe's eyebrow arched. "Earth. Death. Evil. Marble. Grave."

"Lex, what the hell!"

He pointed with his pen at the letter blocks arranged on the square container, spelling the words out for her.

"I mean what is wrong with you today, and why did you invite me when you're in such a dark mood?!" At his feigned look of innocence, Chloe grabbed his pad and flipped through his earlier lists. "Hell. Toll. Black. Power. Yard. And this is the best one!" she exclaimed. "Cemetery! What person actually finds the entire word snaked around a word factory box?" she demanded.

"A really acute player," he suggested.

Chloe dropped the pad in frustration. She didn't really care that they have been having a few problems lately. She was his friend and she cared about him. "What's bothering you, Lex? You've been at my butt, hounding me for two days. And now I finally show up and you've got this whole secrecy black veil going on. Not to mention you lost the sand timer I gave you!"

Lex ran his hand down his face and shook his head to clear it. "I guess I've been a little preoccupied." He physically felt the brunt of Chloe's glare. "Fine. A lot preoccupied. And I was just worried about you."

Chloe sat up on the mattress and clutched the pillow to her chest. "Don't tell me. Clark told you about Cassandra's vision. And seeing that I'm close to Clark, you wanted to make sure I wasn't dead yet."

He flinched but nodded. "Can you blame me? You keep courting death in your wild expeditions in the glory of Smallville High's Torch."

"Wow, Lex. For someone who doesn't believe in fate, you were acting mightily disturbed."

"My little fight with fate involves me, Chloe," he informed her lightly. "I'm not going to tempt that bitch to fuck with you too."

She could swear that if she were drinking something at that moment, she would have sprayed him with it. Lex had always been cool and confident and he never ever used words like those around her. "So you believe in fate."

"I believe in fate to the extent that it can ruin my life and the lives of people I care about. But I believe that our destiny is up to us to make."

"Do you have a remote for those curtains because this room and you particularly need some sunlight. Brighten up, Lex. Life's too short for us to act so dark and morbid!"

"Not if I have anything to say about it."

Chloe's lips curved into a half smile. "That's right. If it's up to you, none of us would die, huh."

"If it were up to me, I get to choose who dies now and who lives with me forever."

"I should be scared," Chloe said teasingly, "but oddly enough, you're giving me thrills with this sinister Lex." When her comment did not bring out the smile she expected, Chloe crawled over to him with concern. She touched his shoulder, "What brought this on, Lex?"

"Cassandra," he replied easily. He would not have told anyone else.

"She told Clark someone close to him would die without even knowing she was talking about her own death. She could be mistaken. Whatever she told you, she could be wrong." Chloe shrugged. "Granted, she can see the future. But she's as human as you and me."

"She didn't tell me anything, Chloe. That's the problem."

"Why?"

"Because whatever she saw when she touched me… It was so evil it killed her. My future killed her."

Chloe nodded and forced him to look at her. "Okay."

"Okay? I have possibly the most hellish futures there is."

"You create your own destiny," she said, throwing his words back at him.

"What if it's fixed?" He was beginning to wonder why he was sharing his insecurities with a high school girl, even if it was his high school girl. And he could really mull about how he refers to her as his now, if only the situation were different.

Chloe shook her head. "You control what happens, Lex. I know that much about you."

"Did Clark tell you about the gravestones?" Chloe shuddered at the memory, and he drew her close to him. "My name wasn't there."

"Thank heavens!"

"No," he whispered. "What if I caused all of that?"

"Lex!" she protested, pushing away. "You could have been buried in your own very elegant mausoleum! Us peasants would be in the crowded cemetery."

"Well thank you for that."

"No, no!" She took his hand in hers and ignored the tingling warmth in the pit of her belly that belied their pretension that everything was the same between them as it had been a few weeks ago. "I mean, what you're saying isn't possible."

"How can you be so sure?"

"Because, Lex," she told him, holding his gaze, "do you honestly believe that whatever evil there would be in your future could escalate so far as to kill me?" A smile flickered across her lips, "Your very own judo student and bubbly snoop? The only girl who corresponded with you through Excelsior, through Zero, through the son of the devil incarnate, through running your car off the bridge and almost slamming into her best friend in the process?"

He stared at her for an interminable moment, knowing he couldn't just answer automatically because she deserved an answer that he really believed was true. The sheer ardor of her trust that shone in her eyes gave him exactly what he was looking for, so he said, "Never."

Chloe nodded and reached for her bag. She unzipped her purse and took out a wooden sand timer with the light blue powdered sand inside. She handed it to him. "You can have my hourglass. I'll just get a new one on the way home." 

fin


	8. Gotta Stop Craving You

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 7 : GOTTA STOP CRAVING YOU

She's going to kill me sometime soon. I swear by all that I trust in this world, which is not a lot, that Chloe Sullivan will kill me.

That is, if this aberration that the doctor speaks of does not do it first.

Everywhere I turn, she's there—grinning like the child she really is. And it makes it that much more appalling, this thing that I will not name. Giving it a name right now will make its presence undeniable. Much like baptizing a child will make its existence that much more difficult to ignore.

If this continues, I'm going to slip up and Clark will hate both of us for not telling them that we know each other. It's getting too hard to ignore her when she's like a damned mushroom popping up wherever you least expect her to.

"So Lex…"

Her perky voice still makes me jump, when I should have been aware that she was loitering around. After all, the house was full of decorators. Chloe thrived on people watching, no matter how much she pretended to disdain the 'normal society.' I mean, how much of a loner would you expect yourself to be when your very ambition relies on moving them?

I look up and see her walk to the chair in front of my desk. "Chloe, I am not surprised to see you."

She gives me a patronizing smirk that I am very sure she ripped off my own slew of facial expressions. I should be irritated. Really. But I never do with this kid. I have to repeat that to myself over and over again so I won't forget just how young she is.

"Right," she tells me. "That's why you almost dropped your briefs when I greeted you."

For someone who had been so sensitive and caring on our last one on one, Chloe was typically the antithesis of drama again. She was such a breath of fresh air I wanted to breathe her in… or something. "I don't wear briefs," I inform her with a straight face.

"Fine," she sighs. "Don't get your panties in a twist."

That makes my lips curve. "You know I'm a boxer type of guy." Ah! To be rewarded with a blush. I think that's a score for me in this round. But who's keeping score?

"Big birthday bash here," she comments in what she believes is a manner I will take as disinterest. But what I love… like, like… like about Chloe is that she can never feign anything. It makes me feel safe that I never have to worry that I'm being taken for a fool around her. "Lana must be thrilled."

"You'd be surprised. Ms Lang hates the idea."

She mocks a look of surprise and grabs at her chest, which of course brings my attention now to the hand over her breast. Is she taunting me? But then that open face again quashes all my suspicions. "Warn me before surprising me, Lex," she scolds with wide eyes. "Do you want me to drop my panties too?"

I blink. Searching for words that would not be a croak.

I blink again.

"Lex, you are doing a huge favor for Lana and I'm jealous."

Talk about straightforward.

"I'm doing this because Nell Potter asked for it, Chloe."

She rolls her at me and I want to warn her that they might stay that way. But she is far from seven. "You're still doing it for Lana," she grumbles.

"Do you want a party too, Chloe?" I ask her carefully. I want to open my drawer and take out my little Chloe calendar that tells me in discrete red circles the days when I must tread on eggshells around the girl. I've started keeping it since my first trip home from school and I ran into the twelve-year-old girl hissing and scratching and biting at me for no apparent reason. I discovered that there was actually a reason when she started walking away from me and presented her backside in full view, her formerly pristine Metropolis Academy skirt screaming at me to go get Mrs. Watson. I've taken to starting the calendar again since moving back. I have learned that you can never be too safe when it came to this Sullivan. I remember though that the eggshell days were not for two more weeks, so I don't know how to handle this particular episode. "I can—"

"I do not want a party, Lex! Do I look like a five-year-old?"

Absolutely not. "So this is going someplace that I will discover in hopefully a few minutes since I have an appointment."

Chloe stands up now, a bit red in the face. This color I understand just like I understand the circles in three to five days in the Chloe calendar. I have managed to piss her off. "You let Nell have a party for Lana Lang here, telling all of Smallville that you know her and are actually fond of her, but you still refuse to be seen in public with me. I feel like a mistress without the perks!" she bursts out, leaving me gaping after her when she storms off.

Was I not just thinking about how to slowly incorporate he into my known life? Granted, I was thinking about Clark's reaction before our small chitchat. But she beat me to the punch again. My mind is snagged on that last thing she said though. A mistress without the perks meaning that she would have been happy being a mistress if it had perks. I know that I should not read Freud into a little thing, but that would be a nice quote to bring up when I need to hone my judo with her.

I really have no idea why Chloe insists on this. It's not like it would help her reputation with these narrow-minded people when she is finally grouped with me. She already complains about feeling like an outsider.

Come to think of it, here in Smallville she really is only comfortable with Pete and Clark. And if she has to pretend to be an outsider when I'm hanging with one of her best friends, then that doesn't leave her much comfort zone.

I am racking my brains trying to think of a plausible way to 'meet' Chloe Sullivan. Maybe I should get some coffee and mull it over while imbibing caffeine. As had been my habit, I surf to Chloe's newspaper website before I turn off my laptop and scan through the page.

Of course. The one thing anyone would go specifically to Chloe Sullivan for.

It solves the problem. We finally meet on a fairly reasonable situation. I see her in her turf. Since I did not consult with her first, she will treat this as a present. I hope this will surprise and delight Chloe enough to drop her—

Dammit, Lex! 

fin


	9. You Gave Me the Jitters

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 8 : YOU GAVE ME THE JITTERS

It was not as if Lex expected him to stick around.

Lex Luthor watched as the official company helicopter rose above him with that loud rhythm he had come to associate with his father's comings and goings. While kids perked up at the sound of a car coming into the driveway—he personally knew that Chloe loved hearing her father's inexpensive shoes approaching—Lex was disgusted when he heard the dramatic entrance and departure of his parent.

LuthorCorp puts family first. What a load of bull.

With his mother gone and Pamela a traitor, the only family he had left was a girl he couldn't understand what he felt for. And now, all the families have left after their show of happy reunions with their children to continue their celebration at home. The Kents had even given Pete a ride with them when his mother got hung up for a few minutes with the legalities of Earl's case.

Lex stood on the helipad of Plant Number Three all alone. His security personnel were scattered inside the factory, looking for signs where the security was breached and hunting for any other possible portions of the building that Lex had not been privy to before.

The wind whipped at his hair and he breathed deep. The night air was cool. Just like the rest of his life would be cold because he was destined to spend it just like this. Alone. On the top of the world where he could see just how happy those below him were.

"Lex."

He turned around and saw Chloe standing with her father just outside the doorway leading back to the building. "I thought you'd gone home."

Chloe waved his words away. "Would we do that?"

He walked towards them and felt the air around him getting warmer with each step. It was probably the heat of the building. Or maybe just the proximity to two human bodies. He directed his response to Gabe. "I'm sorry you were caught in the middle."

"It's part of the job, Mr. Luthor."

It was a formality that Lex disdained, but one Gabe insisted on adopting when they were within the premises of LuthorCorp. "You should probably be going home. I know you'll want to spend sometime together after the scare."

Gabe nodded. "It's late." Lex felt his heart sink. "It took a long time to make sure that all our equipment was online and the production was in sync."

"You didn't have to do that. It could have been fixed tomorrow."

The older man shook his head. "Chloe didn't mind."

"Not at all!" the girl chirped.

"And we were losing money as it was. You wouldn't have wanted to give your father more ammunition against you. We can't really afford downtime in this plant."

"Not yet at least," Lex admitted.

Gabe threw his arm around his daughter's shoulder and started for the stairs. He turned around and raised his eyebrows at Lex. "I know that you enjoy the time you have conversations with yourself, Mr. Luthor, but Chloe is going to make some of her delicious mocha latte to drain the tension and we can easily command her to make enough for three."

Lex stared blankly at Gabe. He heard Chloe whisper to her father, "He must be slow in the uptake because he almost fell down thirty feet."

"Lex," Gabe repeated. "My daughter is making coffee. I am inviting you to come home with us and relax."

Geniuses were not necessarily smart or quick. Chloe raised two hands and started counting off the seconds with her finger before a hint of a smile teased Lex's lips.

"I'd like to take you up on that, Gabe. Anything that involves bossing Chloe around." He hoped that Gabe would interpret the sudden redness of his cheeks as the bite of the wind.

When they settled in Gabe's comfortable if old car, with Gabe insisting that Chloe sit with Lex in the back, he watched Chloe talk to herself silently. He always knew when she did this. The play of emotions and expressions on her face was priceless. He adored trying to guess what she was saying to the other Chloe. And he usually got it correct since she would turn to him and reveal just what the topic of her mind discussion was. Finally, she turned and looked him in the eye.

Chloe grinned at him, but he could see just how much of the fright still remained in her eyes. "You scared the hell out of me going in, Lex!"

"I try," he answered dryly. "Walking into a possible death trap is a hobby of mine, didn't you know?"

"Well if Metropolis me didn't know, I certainly know now."

He gave her a lopsided smirk. "You're right. First the bridge and then this. Good thing there's a guy with the luck of a thousand men in this town."

"It's always Clark, isn't it?" she smiled thoughtfully.

Lex rolled his eyes. He was still not prepared to Clark swooner Chloe after the terror. "Well I'm very glad then because you're not someone to scoff at either. You squirm through so many holes of trouble I can see your ass wiggling and your head buried in some dangerous story."

A wiggling ass. He just couldn't let it go, could he? Fortunately, his statement seemed harmless enough because he saw Gabe grinning from the rearview mirror. "He's right, honey," Gabe told his daughter. "You two probably have the same high risk mark tattooed on your foreheads."

Chloe made an offended grumble. "Who was it again who drank himself to oblivion in the Free Zone in 1997?"

Lex sat back in surprise. That was not something he made known to Chloe. At the time, he was her hero. She wasn't supposed to know the dark side of fun teenage Lex.

"Or the magnificent escapades in Excelsior before you apparently reformed." She said this with mock quotation marks gesture that made Lex grin. "How about the binge of 98? Ah, or my favorite…" Lex's face shuttered. The last one was something that she knew but he never wanted to discuss. "When you protested the new rules in your boarding school and you mooned the vice—"

"That's enough." He didn't really want Gabe to hear that. He was relieved that Chloe didn't mention Zero. Lex saw her smirk, and knew that she remembered that story half as well as he did. It was only around her that he didn't feel that it was such a dirty experience.

"Chloe, stop trying Lex's patience."

"I wouldn't dream of it, dad," Chloe answered from the back of the car. She looked at Lex and edged closer. She laid her head on his shoulder. "You really did scare me, Lex," she whispered.

"Not as much as knowing you were inside scared me," he answered back, just as softly.

"Let's not do that to each other again, okay?"

He looked down at the earnest eyes pleading with him and nodded. "I'm going to stay safe if you are." She agreed with a smile. "So you really wouldn't dream of trying my patience? Someone I don't believe that."

"I said I wouldn't dream of stopping, moron."

"I heard that, Chloe!"

"Sorry, dad."

The heater of this car was old and cranky. Lex settled back on the seat and felt very very warm. 

fin


	10. Surrounded By These Rogues

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 9 : SURROUNDED BY THESE ROGUES

Chloe recoiled at what the girl in front of her was suggesting. Lana's eyes were opened wide and her perfectly sculpted eyebrows were high on her forehead in that cultivated sincerity that Chloe was just beginning to detest.

"Wait, wait, Chloe. It's not a bad idea."

Chloe turned disbelievingly at the guy who she thought was her best friend. Of course it would not sound like the most horrible idea that it really was to Clark Kent. Spoken from the lips of the fairy princess herself as they were, those words could have been coated gold with all the weight that Clark gave them. "It figures you'd side with her!" she snapped accusingly.

"I'm not siding with anybody," he denied.

But Chloe Sullivan could always see through Clark. And despite his show of concern for her, and he undoubtedly was concerned for her, he would always yield to Lana Lang's opinion no matter how it affected Chloe. To Clark, there were only two types of girls—the esteemed Miss Lang and the rest. It was just like earlier when she and Clark were having an interesting time by themselves and when Lana walked in, it was just like this magic bubble surrounding her and Clark popped out. Angry for still harboring a crush on a boy who would never appreciate her, Chloe retorted, "Yeah, right, Clark. You're completely objective in all things Lana!"

With those words, Chloe stomped away from the Torch office. There was nothing for her to say. She could not bear to look at either of those two. They fully deserved each other. She hated the tears that started overflowing from her eyes and she hastily wiped them away. She had to find someone to talk to. Chloe ran to the bleachers to look for Pete. When she reached the field, her other best friend was right in the middle of practice. Her chest was so tight that she felt it would explode.

Her two best friends were otherwise occupied by people and things they loved. Chloe had never felt more alone in Smallville, not even that day when she first arrived with no one but her father to cling to.

She looked up at the late afternoon sun and decided that missing the last period was justified in her case. She had to get out of school and get as far away from Lana and her manipulative backstabbing as possible. Chloe needed someone who would listen.

Since the bus wouldn't be available for two more hours, Chloe decided to hike. She flung her bag on her shoulders and made her way to the only person she knew would listen.

How many times had he promised to since they met? Chloe had lost count of the frequency when Lex would end an email with the words, 'I'll just be right here waiting.' When he used to call her from boarding school, he always assured her at the end of the conversation, 'Just call me collect. You know you can always talk to me.' Over the years she had never taken him seriously on the offer. Now the most precious thing in the world to her, her identity in this small town really, had been stolen from her by the same person who was slowly but surely stealing her Clark away from her. It was time to cash in on that debt of a listening ear.

Before she realized how much time had passed, Chloe was in front of the Luthor castle and under the evening sky. She rapped the large brass knocker and was admitted almost immediately. Because she was such a regular visitor, the housemaid did not bother to lead Chloe to Lex. She always made her own way around the house.

She took a deep breath and searched her brain for some snarky comments to throw at Lex for leaving her out of the gala in Metropolis. True, she had always complained that she never enjoyed those parties and that she preferred haunting the Luthor Hall of the museum in the privacy of having one close companion. Inviting Lana and Clark was underhanded though. She did not care that Lex thought that she was too good for Clark Kent when she wanted him.

Chloe may have come to Lex because she needed a shoulder to cry on, but she would not be caught dead unprepared to judo. She made her way to the study prepared to do some vocal exercise.

She opened the door to find Lex sitting in front of the fireplace, two square glasses of scotch on the low table beside him, tongue dueling with someone else. Chloe was transfixed by the sight of Lex with another woman. She did not know why she stayed for those several seconds when she should have walked right out. In hindsight, she thought that it was probably because she was giving Lex time to turn and notice her standing right there. In her previous experiences, Chloe would drop what she was doing when he seemed to need her company. And without fail, no matter how important a business call or a board meeting was, when he thought that it was serious, Lex would leave it and come to Chloe.

Chloe thought she appeared in pain enough that Lex would choose to come with her if he saw her over that woman's shoulder. But Lex never opened his eyes.

She had never seen Lex kiss before. He'd always been careful not to show her. Maybe he cared about the little kid too much.

She wasn't a kid now. Maybe that's the problem.

Chloe turned around and quietly closed the door after her. When she was leaving, the maid politely inquired about her visit with Mr Luthor. Chloe just shook her head and told her, "I changed my mind. I think Lex needs some time to himself."

~~

It was the way that Clark said it. That was what irked Lex the most. The way this boy who claimed to be a friend threw that statement, in an accusatory manner, grated on Lex's nerves. "He told me you have secrets."

Lex was a little taken aback. He never talked about those days. The only person he spoke about them to was Chloe, and not even very often. He only told her because she had been part of his life through all of it. He decided to talk the honest road. "There are parts of my life I'm not proud of, Clark." Lex wondered vaguely why he should be apologetic to a kid. 'Don't ever be ashamed of what happened, Lex. It's part of who you are now,' Chloe had always told him. Lex was aware of this. But somehow with Clark, he felt the need to prove himself. Maybe it was because the boy seemed so pure. But then again, didn't Chloe? "But I don't want to see you or your family hurt. Now let me help," he offered as sincerely as he could. They were a good family. Chloe took her first dinner in Smallville in that small dining table in their farm. Of course, she invited herself over but it was not the point.

To Lex's surprise, Clark turned him down. "You can't, Lex. I can handle it on my own."

Lex looked after the Clark's retreating back, crushed by the look on Clark's face. It was easy to read it. He didn't trust him because of Phelan's insinuations. Lex kicked the post beside him. He was sick and tired of this town judging him when they didn't know anything. He took his phone and dialed the person who did know and never once judged.

"Hello." He paused at the voice that he did not expect. "Lana, what are you doing answering Chloe's phone? Yes, I know it's the Torch office, but Chloe's permanently housed herself there that I always get her on the line." Belatedly, he realized his mistake and hurried to add, "The two times that I've called there looking for Clark." He listened to the explanation from the other line. "Kwan did that?" Lex frowned in concern. Why hadn't Chloe called him? She must have been so devastated. He made a mental note to speak with Kwan about possible donations that LuthorCorp may give to assist the students. All he needed was the right background. "That is cause for worry, especially with you students so young."

So when Lana asked him for an idea for the paper, Lex generously pitched in, "Write about your principal's meddling with the fourth estate. That should give him all he's looking for and you can express what you want to."

With Lana bent on finishing the editorial and banner story for Chloe's newspaper, Lex decided that he needed to find Chloe. Hopefully, he would get to talk to her before he had to leave for Metropolis to look at the investigations regarding intelligence that his prized Alexander the Great artifact was going to be stolen.

His cellphone beeped from his pocket. When Lex answered it, his heart dropped a little when he realized whom it was. He should have looked at the caller id first but he had been hoping that Chloe would call him and let him know that she was okay.

"What is it, Victoria?"

"Don't be rude, Lex," she drawled in her thick accent. There was a time that he found it alluring. Now it was only an impediment to his comprehension of what she was trying to say. "I wanted to know what time I should expect you tonight."

"I don't answer to schedules, Victoria."

"Fine. I wanted to let you know what your maid said though."

:If you can't handle the help, I will not handle them for you," Lex sighed, weary of catering to a houseguest when he had more important things that needed his attention.

"Oh but it's utterly delightful in an insulting way, Lex," she told him. "Your help found a charm jewelry outside the library door and thought that it was mine," the woman said snidely. "It's really not my style. Have you been entertaining kids in your house, Lex?"

Lex closed his eyes, remembering a birthday not too long ago for which he insisted on escaping the boarding house and gracing Metropolis to hand a blossoming young girl a silver bracelet that held a quill, a heart and a house.

'It's perfect, Lex! Now I have everything I want right on my hand.'

'Your wrist,' he had corrected.

'Oh don't be a dummy. You know I was speaking metaphorically.'

'Oh. Big word.'

'Of course.' A flash of a grin. 'I'm going to be a writer, didn't you know?'

'Why do you think the quill is there? But you were right. This is your lucky charm to find your perfect match.' He had pointed to each of the three charms when he told her. 'If he's perfect for you, you would know because he will give you his heart, a wonderful family and he will never keep you from your dreams.'

'His love and he'll let me pursue my passion. I got those. I thought by the house you meant a really nice house though,' she had teased.

'If he really loves you, he'll give you the best house in the world too,' he amended. 'If he won't, then you don't have to worry. I love you and I'll give you whatever kind of house you want.'

'Even yours?' the girl asked with a twinkle in her eye.

'Even that.'

Lex could feel the intense throbbing of his head that made him want to drop in his bed and just erase the past 48 hours from his brain. Chloe had seen him with Victoria. 

fin


	11. Shimmering in My Darkness

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 10 : SHIMMERING IN MY DARKNESS

He had been trying to get a hold of her for days to no avail. He could almost hear the sympathy in Gabe's voice whenever he informed Lex that Chloe was either out, sleeping or doing whatever excuse it was she provided so she wouldn't be forced to answer the phone. In fact, Lex had been so used to hearing the voice mail message on her cellphone that he was beginning to suspect that she had it permanently turned off, which defeated the purpose of the mobile unit itself.

For this reason, her arrival at the mansion came as such a surprise to Lex Luthor. He searched for words to express his relief at finally seeing her again. He wanted to choose the words that would best tell her how glad he was that she was speaking to him again.

"You look like hell," was all he came up with.

Apparently, and probably because they were both warped of mind and manner, Chloe's nervous stance relaxed upon hearing the almost insult. "Thank you, Lex. You do too. The only difference is," she snarked, "I look like this after days of researching this phantom of your house for Clark and a morning of giving a pint of blood for Lana's drive."

He frowned in concern. "Didn't they tell you that you can't give blood if you hadn't had enough sleep?"

Chloe nodded. "They did. But I didn't tell them I was up til three this morning. They would have rescheduled me. I just wanted to get this thing over with." Lex shook his head, knowing he did not have a right to scold her for doing something so stupid. "Besides, I can take it. I'm still standing, am I not?"

"Barely," he muttered. Lex pushed his chair back and went over to her, taking her arm and sitting her down on the couch. He took a seat beside her and faced her intently. "Why didn't you just go home and slept it off?"

Chloe gave a huge yawn and stretched her arms. "Because I wanted to tell you something important."

"What could be that important?"

Chloe settled back on the arm of the couch, slumped with exhaustion. "I wanted to say that I'm not mad at you or anything. There's really no reason for me to be pissed. You're grown up. We both are."

"So you're fine with Victoria?" She nodded. "Then why wouldn't you take my calls?"

"Well maybe I was jealous," she admitted.

Lex leaned forward. "Jealous?" he said softly.

"She was going to take you away from me, Lex." His heart stopped for a brief second. "You're my best friend—always have been. She would have taken all your time away from me." Chloe sighed. "But that was so selfish of me. So I made the move to apologize. I'm fine, Lex. Sorry for acting like a spoiled kid."

"She's gone back to Metropolis for the time being." Lex wanted to explain that there was nothing to be jealous of, that Victoria Hardwick would not take his time and attention from Chloe no matter what. It just was not like that. But that was another explanation for another one—preferably when she was alert to understand.

"Chloe, get some sleep," he whispered. Lex smirked when she murmured 'I'm awake,' complete with fluttering eyelids, a half smile and further burrowing into the cushion of his library couch. "Right. You're going to have a crick in the neck if you stay here."

Lex brushed a strand of hair off her face and then stood up to pick up the phone from his desk. Within minutes, there was a discrete knock on the door and a maid entered to inform him, "The room is ready, sir."

"Thank you."

He looked down at the sleeping girl, half-seated, half-lying, on the couch. He thought about lifting her up in his arms, but even he had to admit that he was probably going to stumble all over the place even with her weight. He had not exactly been working out, a fact that he intended to change so that she can fall asleep wherever she wanted and he could take her to the guest room. Lex very much doubted that the fencing muscles were enough for carrying a young woman up a long flight of stairs (for that he had to thank his ancestors who adored the winding stone steps) and down a maze of corridors. He wouldn't risk dropping her from the top step of thirty odd steps.

"Chloe," he said softly, shaking her. She moaned and shook her head. Lex grinned. "Chloe, come on. You don't have to be fully awake. Just walk. I'll lead you."

Reluctantly and groaning all the while much to his entertainment, Chloe stood up and leaned heavily against Lex. His grip on her was sure as he still half-carried her to the room. When they got there, he led her to the bed and helped her in. The moment her head hit the pillow, she was fast asleep again. Lex leaned down and kissed her forehead.

~~

It was difficult to keep his mind on the conversation he was having with Clark Kent when Lex knew that Chloe was at his house fast asleep. He really wished that he could just spend time at the castle, finding out exactly what was going on. But frankly, he knew that he would hate himself if he stayed there. He had seen again just how much Chloe trusted him. If he stayed there, under the same roof, he would hate himself because he would be tempted to do something that might violate the rules of friendship they have established. If not that, he would still hate himself for not taking the opportunity offered by the circumstances.

Oddly enough, Clark was facing a problem similar to his own. Talking about Clark's choices seemed to order things in his mind a little.

"I wanted to take my shot with Lana, but now—"

Lex nodded in understanding. Wasn't he wanting to take his shot right now, and hiding in the Beanery because he could not decide on what to do except put some distance between the two of them? "You feel like you'd be taking advantage." If Lex acted on these feelings Chloe stirred in him, everyone including himself would feel that Lex was taking advantage of Chloe.

"What would you do?" Clark asked the question Lex couldn't really answer honestly yet.

There was no need to tell Clark everything he felt. Clark may have saved his life, but Lex still owed him no more than he owed Chloe, who he can tell everything to. Everything except for these changes though. Lex opted for an expected answer. "Who me? I'd go for it. See, but that's what I like about you, Clark. You wouldn't."

Then and there, Lex realized that he would like himself better if he acted more like Clark in this situation.

They were interrupted by the cheerful if nervous greeting by Amy. The girl stood at the side of the table smiling openly. "Hi Lex."

"Amy. This is a surprise." Lex smiled at the girl. Chloe had always told him that Amy was a nice enough girl, if a bit shy and very much of an introvert. 'She looks at me oddly sometimes, but I'm sure it's because she might have a lot to say but is too shy to say them.' For this reason alone, Lex knew that he could not do what Victoria suggested and just ship her back to Metropolis. The girl said something about her desire to say hello, to which he replied, "I appreciate the gesture."

When Amy left, Lex looked back at Clark to pick up on where their conversation was interrupted. Clark appeared very concerned. "What is it?"

"She has your watch, Lex."

Lex frowned at Clark. "Amy?"

"Yes."

"She couldn't have," he denied. Lex would not believe that Amy would have to steal anything of his, especially one so precious to him. "How do you know?"

"Lex, when she moved her hand and her sleeve rode up, I saw her wearing a silver watch with a coin face. Amy has your watch, Lex."

Clark's face was serious and Lex had always trusted Clark since he saved his life. Despite all the secrets and unexplained events that seemed to happen around Clark, Lex was pretty sure that Clark was telling the truth. "All right."

The plan was to wait an hour until Amy comes home and then goes about her business. It would give them the chance to see if Amy had replaced the watch somewhere.

When Lex opened the cabinet that contained a virtual shrine of his pictures and things he used, and he realized how unbalanced Amy had become, only one thing slammed into his head. Calmly, he told his housekeeper about what arrangements they should come to when he sent the family back to Metropolis. He also thanked Clark and told him to go home because this was something he needed to do on his own.

With Clark gone, Lex allowed some of his terror to show. "Where's your daughter?"

"In the mansion, Mr Luthor. I was just going to get her."

At that response, Lex ran his way to the castle, cursing the long flights of stairs and winding corridors that Lionel had always been so boastful of. Who knew what warped scenario Amy would think up, especially if she saw the way he had led Chloe to the room earlier? And Amy had probably seen how often and how intimate Lex and Chloe's meetings in the castle have been. They have, after all, been with him from Metropoli to Smallville.

Lex ignored the pulling strain on his side at the exertion. He ran through the corridors, praying that he wasn't too late, or that Amy had not found Chloe yet.

She arrived just outside the door to the guest bedroom and heard the muffled groans and stifled cried coming from inside. He tried to open the door to find it barricaded. Lex did not know where he found the strength, but Clark had claimed once it was adrenaline that got him to save all those people. Lex ful believed him now. There was no explanation of the enormous bursts of energy one received when someone you loved wasin danger. Lex rammed his hsoulder into the massive doors and they swung open to reveal Chloe writhing on the bed fighting an invisible intruder that held a pillow over her face.

Without thinking twice, Lex threw himself onto what appeared like thin air and saw as the sheets were disturbed and chairs toppled on the invisible intruder's way out. Lex frantically reached for the pillow and threw it away. Chloe gasped, breathing deeply, catching up on the long needed oxygen. Her eyes brightened at the sight of him. She flung her arms around his neck. Lex grabbed her and held her close, kissing her temples and murmuring words of comfort.

"Lex," she cried, "I was so scared!"

"Shhh," he calmed her. "You're safe. You'll always be safe in my house, Chloe. I promise."

"Okay," she sobbed, still not letting go.

It was hours later, and only after Gabe called asking Lex to take her home before nightfall, that Lex finally drove Chloe. On the way to the car, Chloe tolhim that she could make her own way to the Sullivans' place. Lex looked at her appalled before silently helping her into the passenger seat.

"Did you drive Victoria home?"

He arched an eyebrow at her. "You're kidding me."

"Then why are you driving me?"

"You're not Victoria," he told her slowly.

Chloe looked down at herself and her rather distinct clothes. "Obviously."

He took one of his hands off the steering wheel and reached to squeeze hers. "I care about you."

"She's your girlfriend," she reasoned.

He looked at Chloe and gave her the same words he gave Clark the day before. "Relationships don't always have to be about love, Chloe." He saw a bit of disappointment enter her eyes. To assure her, he squeezed her hand again. "Not every connection is like ours."

Chloe was suddenly very sad. "I hope you'll find someone to be happy with," she told him sincerely.

He held her gaze. Lex knew that he was endangering himself and Chloe so he parked the car at the side of the road. "Someday," he comforted her. "Right now I'm not ready. And neither is she."

Chloe nodded and tore her eyes from his. She chuckled. "I can't believe we haven't killed ourselves with drama yet!"

"You're right," Lex agreed, laughing softly. He shifted the car back in gear and sped back to the Sullivans' house.

fin


	12. I Deserve a Hug

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 11 : I DESERVE A HUG

"So I just finished talking to Clark," Lex narrated on his cellphone.

Chloe narrowed her eyes at her toes. "Apple green, shimmering red or hot pink?" she asked, finding the three shades better than the other two. "And you did, huh. So what happened?"

Lex didn't ask what she was talking about. "The hot pink will make you look like a cheerleader. The shimmering red will make you older. The apple green is too teenybopper, don't you think?" He could picture her biting her lower lip in indecision. "And it went pretty well, but I still don't know what I did during the entire thing with Rickman. Clark is a very closemouthed boy."

"Oh he is!" Chloe agreed enthusiastically. "It's too bad we don't see any evidence of your actions while you were under that freak's control. At least I had a minty sensation as a clue," she teased.

Lex grinned. "At least you finally kissed your crush."

"Hey what do you think of me, a coward?" Chloe protested. "I am a woman of action. You know that! I kissed Clark Kent years ago!"

"You did? What happened?"

"Veni, vidi, vici," she answered simply.

"Meaning you went to school, saw the hot farmer boy and did everything necessary so the opportunity would present itself?"

"Exactly. When it popped up, I just kissed him."

"Poor guy."

"Hey!"

Lex shook his head. "I mean he never knew what was coming. I bet Smallville hadn't seen the likes of you before you arrived."

"I am unique, yes," Chloe considered.

"Of course you are."

"So if he won't talk about what happened, then what did you talk about?"

Lex drove through familiar roads carefully, not wanting a repeat of his first day in town. He had left Clark safely at home in his loft. Lex doubted even Clark would be fast enough to rescue him this far from the farm. "He seemed particularly interested in the fact that Kyle Tippet and Rickman used to be best friends," Lex replied thoughtfully.

Chloe tipped some acetone over the cotton ball and removed four of the five colors gracing her toenails. "It is pretty scary, don't you think? I mean, things can change just like that. One minute they were inseparable and the next, they were bitter enemies. What did you tell Clark?"

"I told him the truth. That wouldn't happen to us."

"I'm glad. Clark… He needs friends."

"Everyone needs friends, Chloe. Even people like me."

Chloe smiled at the voice on the other end of the line. "That's why you have me, Lex," she pointed out. "Who else in the world would put up with you as much and as long as I have?"

"I'm doing a lot of putting up myself," he reminded her.

"Well that's why we're perfect for each other. We jive really well. I bet if we danced together we'd execute the movements perfectly."

"That remains to be seen," was his answer.

Chloe looked down at her now perfectly manicured toenails. "Lex," she said uncertainly, "do you think we won't change? I mean, like Kyle and Rickman. I would venture to propose that you and I are closer than you and Clark in some ways," she continued hesitantly.

"You and I." He allowed his voice to trail off. "We're definitely different than Clark and I, Chloe. Our relationship will change."

"Soon?"

"Not too soon."

Chloe picked up the bottle of nail polish again and applied some to her fingernails. "You really think we can't go on like this forever?" She was disappointed at his answer. She was practical enough to know that Lex would eventually leave her to pursue friendships with people closer to him in so many aspects. But she had fantasized of being connected to him forever.

"As much as I enjoy what we have, Chloe, I know it's going to change. The best things always do."

"I don't want the time to come when we pass each other in the street and we barely even acknowledge each other."

"Believe me, Chloe, that's not going to happen. My friendship with Clark will be the stuff of legends. People will talk about it everywhere for a long time. It's going to be such a famous story. My relationship with you, on the other hand, that's words and entries reserved for the most private journals and memoirs. No one is going to exploit it while we live."

"Are you ashamed of it?" she whispered.

"It's private, Chloe. That's what makes it… more." Abruptly, he shifted their conversation. "Look out your window."

Intrigued, she stood up and padded to the window, careful to lift her toes from the floor. She elbowed the curtain open and looked out.

Lex leaned against his silver car grinning up at her, his phone on his ear. "We have three hours of light left. I was hoping someone would hop in and drive with me to Metropolis for some very exclusive ballroom classes."

"Really now?" she teased back on the cordless in the crook of her shoulder. "Reporters hound you in the city. What happened to our very private friendship?"

"I'm pretty sure we can sneak in and out undetected for two hours of dancing. Besides, how else would we prove your theory about executing movements perfectly? I'll even add my two cents in. We can dance in perfect coordination blindfolded and without music."

"We'll look like fools!" Chloe protested laughingly.

"We'll look like fools together. That should count for some, don't you think?"

She grinned at the young man in her driveway and waved a little. Chloe opened her closet and pulled out the short red dress hanging in the back of her closet. "Are my red stilettos still in the trunk?"

"Where else would they be?" he replied. "Now aren't you glad I made you pick shimmering red?"

"How did you—" Chloe gave an unlady-like snort. "I won't even ask."

"So do I get a hug?"

"If you get me home tonight before my dad goes ballistic, I think you deserve one."

"Good, because I already told Gabe I might take you out tonight."

"Even before the whole dancing in rhythm thing?"

She peeked out the window and saw his smirk blinding her from that distance. "So I really deserve a hug."

Chloe shrugged on the dress and said, "Later." She tossed the cordless phone on the bed and hurried to meet her tango partner.

fin


	13. Away From All the Leeches

**Chlexville**

**Season 1**

Episode 12 : AWAY FROM ALL THE LEECHES

She really hoped that Lex was back from his trip to Metropolis. Chloe walked briskly through the corridors of the mansion and knocked rapidly on the door. When she heard his voice call out a terse, "Come in," she breathed a sigh of relief.

Chloe pushed open the door and walked inside. "Hey."

Lex Luthor's frown dissipated when he saw her. He closed the laptop and stood up at the sight of her. "You look terrified," he told her, taking in her harried appearance. Lex took her upper arms in his hands and pulled her to him. "What happened?"

Chloe bit her lip. "Remember Super Boy?"

"I distinctly remember having the maid run up to me with a copy of the Ledger right before I was leaving for Metropolis. Your first by-line in that paper," he said, smiling.

Chloe didn't smile back at him, which was a cause for concern. Lex tipped her face up so he could study her eyes. Whatever she was feeling, he could always read through the hazel orbs. "Well he hurt Clark. There was this huge fight in the parking lot today. It was so scary. The ambulance came," she narrated, "but I couldn't go with them. So I thought you'd want to know. I called you from school and you weren't home yet."

"I must have been on my way then."

"I was just so freaked."

Lex nodded. Chloe had generally always come to his place whenever something scared her. There weren't a lot of things that could do that, least of all mutants. Once, in the company picnic, Chloe had sat in the lawn watching him all day, saying nothing and not even approaching him. She had merely stayed within his vicinity. He had later found out that Mrs Sullivan had left her family just the day before. "Well I'm glad you came here. You know that nothing bad will ever touch you in this house."

He felt her nod against his chest. "Yes, you told me," she mumbled.

"And I meant it." Lex knew that he should check on Clark. "I'm going to drive to the hospital and see if Clark's alright."

"Okay."

"Would you like to stay here?"

"I should go home."

"You don't want to stay here alone, do you?"

Chloe pushed away from him and gave him a lopsided smile. "You think you can leave me here after what happened with invisible boy?"

"Well it's not going to happen again. Didn't I promise you that after I so dashingly rescued you?" At Chloe's arched brow, he sighed. "Fine. I'll drop you off before I go check on Clark. Thanks for telling me."

Her eyes wandered over to the laptop on his desk. "What were you working on? It looked important."

A shadow of a frown marred his features when she looked at the laptop. "That's the business I was taking care of in Metropolis."

"What's wrong, Lex?" He had mostly been unaffected when it came to deals and contracts. Chloe wondered what was different about this one. "Want to tell me about it?"

"God, no!" he burst out without thinking. And then he held her tight against him. "The last thing I want to do is to get you involved in this. Business is dirty, Chloe And I'm not just talking about the crap factory." He detected a hint of a smile come over her face. "I want to keep you out of that world as much as possible. Save the dirty dealings to women like Victoria."

"What makes her strong enough for that and me not?" Chloe demanded. "I'm one feisty woman!"

"I have no question about that," Lex agreed.

"So why can you talk business with her and not with me? I may be young but I'm intelligent enough to understand." After a minute, she added, "At least I think I am."

"You're more than smart enough," he assured her. "But I prefer to keep you out of that. When I go to Metropolis and deal with these things, I'm prepared to encounter schemes and manipulations. But I want to know that I can call you up or go home to someone unspoiled by all that shit. You'll be my lighthouse, okay?"

Through his speech, she met his gaze unwaveringly. When he finished, Chloe burst out giggling. "That was so lame!"

Lex chuckled too. "It was. But true."

"You mean like a ship at sea? And then you'll look for my light so you can find your way back to land?"

"Okay, yes, that was lame."

"See?" Chloe grinned at him and pulled him along with her out of the house. "Glad you recognized how high that speech was in the lameness meter." The two of them took their respective seats in the car. "Are you still researching the accident?" she asked suddenly.

"You'll be very interested in the results," he told her. He and Chloe shared the same passion for investigation, and in their conversations they always learned something new from the other. It was a little hobby they shared to spend time together. Still, he was never going to expose her to that sleazebag Nixon. "I'm just not sure why Clark is so against it. He says he's not hiding anything but his reaction to my pursuit of answers says otherwise. How about your Wall of Weird research?"

Her eyes widened in excitement. "Well I saw Super Boy's abilities first hand. I think we can add them to our notebook of Smallville oddities," she offered.

"Really? Like what?"

"Well, if you read my article, you'd know most of them," she pointed out.

"Most of them?"

She gave him a smug grin. "You didn't think I would tell all, did you? I kept some facts for myself."

"So I gathered from your article that he had impenetrable skin, incredible strength and superspeed."

Chloe nodded her head at each enumeration. "He had super hearing," she informed Lex. "I was talking to Pete and mentioned something to him. The next day, when he came up to me to thank me, he mentioned it."

"Interesting." Lex was a little disappointed when he pulled into the Sullivans' driveway. "Since you're in Super Boy's good side at the moment, then I know you'll be safe from him. But either way, be careful."

"Thanks for the ride." She stepped out of the car and was surprised when Lex slammed out of the driver side too. "You're walking me in?"

"I'm a gentleman," he told her teasingly.

Chloe opened the door and turned to Lex. "Well, you should go. Hopefully, you'll catch Clark before Mr. Kent carts him home." They stared at each other uncomfortably. "Ummm bye." Chloe waited for him to turn around and leave.

Lex leaned close and stared at her lips. His eyes flew to hers. He cleared his throat. "So go inside," he whispered.

Chloe licked her lips. "Ummhmm."

Lex rubbed the bridge of his nose and pecked her cheek. And then he spun around and made his way to his car.

"Lex!"

He stopped right as he was about to open the door. He looked back at her.

Chloe smiled. "You're my lighthouse too." Realizing the utter drama of that, she made a gagging gesture and blew him a kiss, which he caught with his hand.

"You couldn't leave it romantic, could you?" he called back.

Chloe rolled her eyes. "We don't need romance, Lex. We have heart."

Lex shook his head, chuckling, and got into the car. He waited until the front door of Chloe's house was closed before pressing his palm against his lips. 

fin


	14. Kinetic Pantomime

KINETIC PANTOMIME  
  
Words were their link. They were their work and their play.  
  
Lex knew that it was easy to see through the amusement in his eyes how much he enjoyed the challenge in her every question. He adored her like this. Lex pitied the men in her life who will be enamored of her when she was in her 'take no prisoners' mode. He wondered if he should pity himself then.  
  
He was testing her temper and Clark, behind the camera, was oblivious to their silent conversation. Lex knew her enough now to know that it was never good to let Chloe boil over with irritation, so when he was called away he decided to let slip a soft little tease that made her sparkle again.  
  
When he left that room, he did not have any illusions that Chloe Sullivan would stay put. But then again, she knew her way around the mansion so he wasn't worried. It wasn't as though there was anything he hid from her other than the crap about the company, and only because she didn't have to be burdened with the information.  
  
It wasn't the silence that jarred him. He was used to the silence inside the office. He was usually in there alone anyway. In fact, with his father's voice grating in the speaker phone, the room had more noise and was more crowded than it had been for the three odd months since he had been in Smallville.  
  
It was a shift in the air, a sudden cold finger that trailed down his spine, almost making him shiver. He was used to terror. It never worried him anymore. After several close calls in his various cars or a good 'friend' overdosing to the point of a flatline, Lex had been desensitized to paralyzing fear. This time, the dread that overcame him was real. Without saying goodbye to his father, Lex ran out of the office, throwing open the door and calling to his butler.  
  
He did not wait for a response. His heart was racing and his breath hitched. It was still outside, silent. He cursed the maze of corridors that prevented him from knowing what was happening at the other side of the castle. His legs pumped furiously. Cold sweat formed on his brow as he desperately ran, bypassing the dull faces of his ancestors looking down on him with disapproval, not minding the ancient weapons that hung on the stone walls.  
  
He was a long distance away when he saw her, as though in a silent movie, as she fought off the hooded attackers. Lex forced his feet to speed up. Mutely, he watched her body twist against restraining arms. Like a rag doll, she was pushed through the stained glass windows. He stumbled on his feet. His vision froze and he saw her body halfway out the window. He forced his limbs to work, but he was glued to the spot. In his eyes, the scene replayed itself over and over, from the moment she smashed through the glass to the point where her shoes vanished from his sight.  
  
When he shook himself back to the present, all he saw was Clark leaning down. His throat worked furiously, and Lex could see him shouting her name. He could see Clark's mouth open and close, forming the syllables, but Lex could hear nothing and was rooted to the spot.  
  
He would curse himself a thousand times for that delay. He couldn't help but think he lost time because after his next blink, Clark was no longer in front of the broken glass windows. Lex raced down the two flights of stairs and out into the cold night to find Clark kneeling in front of her twisted body. The boy moved to lift her.  
  
Lex grabbed Clark's arms, preventing him from moving her. It looked as though Clark was about to protest.  
  
The butler arrived with paramedics, confirming Lex's suspicions about the length of time it took for him to react. Rage burned his cheeks and scalp. His own weakness prevented him from acting logically. He was shoved out of the way and for the first time he did not care if people trampled over him in their haste to attend to her. He watched from the sidelines as strangers ran their hands over her body and felt along her neck, confirming that there were no broken bones. Lex watched like a hawk as fingers of a man unknown to him shifted her head and another anonymous person placed a neck brace to steady her. They easily lifted her to a portable gurney and placed her inside the ambulance.  
  
The vehicle disappeared into the dark small town night. Lex and Clark were left standing alone in the grass, surrounded by pieces of broken glass. Clark stared after the ambulance and resolved to ask his friend for a ride to the hospital, knowing that the accident was his fault. When Clark looked over at Lex, the billionaire's son's attention was focused on the third level of his house, his face shuttered, his eyes unreadable.  
  
Clark stepped back when his friend's cold gray eyes fell on him. Without a word, Lex turned and walked briskly to his car, leaving Clark to trail closely behind him.  
  
~~  
  
The flowers decorating the room were still. Lex felt no stir of air despite the slowly shutting door. Even the monotonous hum of the air conditioner was missing. He looked down at the battered face resting against the white pillow, noting the angry bruise just below her eye. He waited for the flicker of her lashes that would indicate a restless sleep. But there was nothing. He might as well have been staring at a photograph for all the movement she exhibited.  
  
Lex reached down to take her hand in his. He started at the shock of the hot skin. Carefully, he raised it and saw the way it was slightly bloated due to the IV. The permanent forceful push of the liquid into her system discolored her pale skin.  
  
Clark had left two hours ago, after Lex assured him that this was not his fault. Chloe was his responsibility. He had promised her over and over that inside his house, she was safe. In case of trouble, she had to run to him. A bitter bile rose in his throat at the thought that it was in his house, because of material things he possessed, that she was placed into this situation. He swore he would not sleep until he found the people responsible for this. Chloe inanimate was a crime.  
  
A nurse bustled into the room and picked up Chloe's chart. Lex didn't move his eyes from Chloe's face. The nurse recorded her readings from the machine and took Chloe's pulse. Through the entire procedure, he didn't budge from his position beside her.  
  
The nurse left and the murmurs drew his attention. Lex briefly extricated his gaze from his charge and saw Gabe Sullivan speaking to the nurse outside. The door had swung shut, so he watched the mute conversation.  
  
Gabe looked in and nodded at Lex. Lex knew that he had to leave now. He squeezed her hand gently, careful not to dislodge the tube that pierced her skin, a silent promise that he would return, and that he would not rest until he had the satisfaction of seeing those who hurt her thrown brought to justice.  
  
~~  
  
He had never before felt the strange lightness that washed over him when Gabe Sullivan called his phone to inform him that his Chloe had regained consciousness. Lex had stalked past his PI, who had traveled all the way from Metropolis to attend to the robbery investigation. He held up his hand to silence the man's protest and simply left the room.  
  
The roar of the vehicle's motor comforted him. It assured him that he was that much closer to her, that much sooner to see her.  
  
He walked past the receptionist's desk and headed directly to the elevator. A doctor waved to him to hold it. Lex pushed the number of the floor where her room was. Without meeting anyone's eye, he proceeded to the room. He saw Clark Kent vanish to the opposite hallway.  
  
Lex pushed open the door to her room and stopped. The bed was empty. He looked around the room but did not find her anywhere. Gabe informed him that she was staying in the same room.  
  
He surveyed the bedclothes, thrown about and rumpled, and knew that none of the hospital staff had been there. If she were transferred, the bed would have been made. A soft sound from the small bathroom caught his attention.  
  
Lex walked slowly over to the slightly open door. He knocked softly, rapid hits on the wood. He listened closely but heard only the same soft sound. Concerned, he pushed the door partway and peeked inside.  
  
To find her sitting on the floor, her legs pulled up, softly crying. He frowned and walked over to her, his heart breaking at the sight of his feisty girl looking so beaten and broken in the demeaning white hospital gown. Lex knelt in front of her and tipped her face up.  
  
Lex pulled a handkerchief from his pants pocket and gently wiped the tear tracks lining her cheeks. He met her eyes and read the frustration and the helplessness, and understood the reason for her breakdown. He ran his fingers through her hair to put it in some semblance of order. Lex reached up and wet his handkerchief with some water from the faucet. Careful not to touch her bruise, Lex moistened her face. He reached behind her and tied her gown tighter.  
  
Her breath teased his lips. Lex looked down at her and saw her staring at him, her eyes swimming in tears. He held his breath and moved closer to her. Just a few more centimeters. Her lips parted in unconscious anticipation. Lex pressed kisses on her cheeks, grateful that she was alive. Chloe swallowed a cry when his lips pressed close to her bruise. She touched his cheek, softly, almost like a butterfly wings.  
  
Lex closed his eyes and kissed her forehead. He stood up and helped her to her feet. She stumbled. Without muttering words of comfort that she would read as evidence to her sudden weakness, Lex placed an arm under her knees and across her back and picked her up. He elbowed the door open and carried her back to bed.  
  
When he had deposited her back on the bed, he sat beside her silently. She gazed at his face and smiled. Lex took a deep breath and started to rise.  
  
She grabbed his hand and squeezed. 


	15. Chances are Zero

CHANCES ARE ZERO  
  
There are many things about Lex Luthor that the world does not know. He's very superstitious. Odd since he earned his degree in biochem at the top of his class. One would think that a scientist would have no place in his life for old sayings and all that. He doesn't announce it to the world of course.  
  
I only found out when I sat on strawberry juice during the LuthorCorp picnic and had to run to the house to change. (I don't care how much Lex smirks that it was not juice. I will forever deny that he's the first person to know when I got my period!) Well anyway I found him in the restroom with his pants down and he was wearing his boxers wrong side out. Don't ask me what for. I don't understand what saying it was that he sputtered at me back then. Something about warding off evil in forested areas by wearing things like that. It was such a good blackmail piece too. But I couldn't use it because he knew, or suspected, something about what I was doing there looking all flushed. He kept making snide comments on how "You're twelve now, aren't you, Chloe?" and "Why the sudden mood swing?" I would have shown him mood swing if I hadn't been so embarrassed.  
  
I get a kick out of knowing that there are things between us that would forever remain just between us. There are no secrets, and I don't want there to be any. That's why when I found out from Clark what happened, I knew I had to go to him.  
  
Club Zero was a nightmare. I spent weeks convincing him over the phone that he had no way of knowing what the consequences of his actions would be. I guess deep inside I blamed him for what he had been becoming so far from my influence. I mean, he had always had a screw loose up there. Lex was never perfect. But he never actually caused someone to get murdered before as far as I knew. I'm pretty conceited too. I think, I really do, that I played a huge part in keeping him down here. On earth I mean. He was so sick with guilt he could have shot his bald brains out if I hadn't been the most unbelievably perfect friend.  
  
Right now, having just been haunted by the memory again, I know Lex needed me. The week after I got out of the hospital, he had been acting weird around me. He's probably gotten all sentimental and crap about the thought of losing me. I have to reassure him that I'm still here and I wouldn't go away. Ever.  
  
When I asked my dad if I could go see Lex, he warned me that Lex had been in a very dark temper for a while. But he let me go since he's as aware as I am that I can handle Lex. Lex loves me. He seriously does. That's more than I can say for Clark the ultimate hero.  
  
I grabbed the flowers I brought with me and made my way to his library. He always stayed there when he needed to think. So I walked in thinking it was fine. He was standing by the window looking out. He turned around and scowled at me. I can handle a scowl. He's been scowling at so many people all his life that it's probably a default expression.  
  
"I brought you flowers to make you feel better. The ones you gave me made me feel like-" I don't usually stop short unless the person I'm talking to has vanished without a word, which only happens with farmboy. Lex might have gone and puffed out. This guy standing in front of me is really not the guy I'm used to.  
  
He has been in such a traumatic experience. I made my way to him, careful to avoid looking at the window. I embraced him and sniff. He hasn't had a bath since his rescue. That was obvious. I embraced him tighter. There was really no point mentioning to a vulnerable man that he stank.  
  
Okay what the heck was that? I found myself getting pushed away. An angry pair of eyes I can bear to yell at. But he looked at me so emotionlessly. Lex never hides his feelings from me. He knows that doesn't work.  
  
"What's wrong? I know about it, Lex. You don't have to keep anything from me."  
  
He snarled at me and it was so ugly. I didn't like seeing it. "Do you know what happens to the people I love? Amanda killed herself, Chloe."  
  
"Well that was Amanda's problem," I snapped. I mean, seriously, do I look suicidal?  
  
He shook his head. "I give them hell on earth. I'm beginning to think my father was right in how he deals with people. Let's just stop this. I won't care for you anymore. Maybe you can escape this curse. When Luthors care about women, those women die."  
  
I rolled my eyes at that. That was so melodramatic and it didn't suit Lex at all. "Who cares if you stop loving me?" I answered back. "I already love you. So we're stuck."  
  
"Forget it, Chloe."  
  
"Hey, shut up!"  
  
"You have other friends, for heaven's sake. Hang out with Clark and Pete. Make friends with Lana Lang."  
  
"Don't make me throw up."  
  
"You don't need me. Nobody knows about us yet. No one's going to ask if we stop being friends."  
  
"Agh! What if I say that I love you?"  
  
"We've established that when you were a toddler, Chloe."  
  
"No we haven't," I denied. "I loved you. Now I [I]love[/I] you."  
  
He stared at me dully for a long time. I can see his throat working with his swallow. So what if I just spilled my guts in front of him. I can see the vultures circling now, prepared to dive in and eat my insides. "Shit," he murmured.  
  
"Not the reaction I was expecting," I said diplomatically, even though my heart was pounding and I didn't have reactions in my mind.  
  
If he had hair, he would have pulled them all out now, leaving him bald. Since he's bald already, there was no need. And he could skip directly to dialogue. "Shit," he said again. I shifted my weight from one ball of foot to the other. "I can't do that to you," he replied at last. Who was doing what to whom? Did I say anything about stuff he's doing to me? That was the problem, right? I've gone and wanted him to do things to me and he won't. "It's not gonna happen, Chloe."  
  
I blinked rapidly. My vision started to blur and I didn't have an idea why. So I kept blinking. Thankfully, my sight cleared and I found out the reason for the earlier blurring when wet droplets rolled down my cheeks. I could think of only one way to lash out. "You are so stupid, Lex Luthor!" And I turned on my heels and ran as far and as fast away from him as I could. 


	16. Extinct Like the Nicodemus

EXTINCT LIKE THE NICODEMUS  
  
So she was worried about him. So she was terrified the entire time Clark related the story to her. So she wanted to rush to his place and check up on him. So she wanted to kill Pete for threatening Lex. So she wanted to choke pretty girl for coming on to him.  
  
She would not do any of those because she had no right to. He made that abundantly clear last time they talked.  
  
She could really hate him if she tried.  
  
She still loved him though. So she would not even try.  
  
Chloe sat in the Talon curled up on the red couch, a mug of coffee balanced on top of a drawn knee while she browsed through the document open in her laptop. Her eyes couldn't help but wander to the counter where she had heard, from customer's whispers, that Lana had sidled up to Lex, breathing into his ear, touching him where her hands should never be. She saw the crack on the wall paint where she supposed the cup Lana threw at him hit. And so she wanted to strangle Lana Lang again.  
  
She forced herself to edit Clark's shirt piece on the agricultural heritage of Smallville as though it were not the most obvious thing in Kansas State.  
  
Chloe knew she should probably ask Lana how she was doing now. She already visited Mr. Kent at home and he seemed fine, back to normal shoveling whatever it was he shoveled in his barn (hopefully not muck; it did not smell like muck). But Lana had come on to two guys she really really cared about during her brief jaunt to boldness and Chloe did not appreciate it. At first she entertained the thought that maybe she could put aside her feelings for that stupid obdurate bald man if she pictured him and Lana kissing with whipped cream all over their mouths. A bit of whipped cream, after all, was part of the rumors. But the image just really made her skin crawl and injected her with the urge to get on top of Lex (after pushing Lana off of him, of course) and licking that whipped cream off his lips herself.  
  
She was so totally screwed now. Lex did not want her. Lex did not want her. She should repeat that like a mantra. Maybe she'll start believing it soon. Lex did not want her.  
  
"I've been wanting you."  
  
Her head snapped up from the screensaver. She saw the one person she had been avoiding. But she positioned herself in her favorite spot in the Talon where he often saw her. How hard could she have been trying to avoid him? "Wha-What?" she gasped.  
  
Lex gave her a small smile. "May I?"  
  
Chloe nodded, at first dumbly. And then she said, "You may." You may sit. You may want me. Please want me.  
  
He took a seat in the soft chair in front of her. Chloe closed the laptop and looked at him. He glanced around, making a show of looking for someone. She forced herself to say, "Clark will come soon," because it was an unspoken agreement to make their acquaintance seem to be all about Clark Kent.  
  
"I was saying that I've been wanting to talk to you."  
  
"Oh." Chloe moistened her lips and lifted the mug to her mouth. She swallowed enough to wet her suddenly dry throat. "You have?"  
  
"You know we should."  
  
"We should do a lot of things, Lex." The words came out before she could monitor them and clean them up. She followed them up with, "But we're not going to. Which of those things we should do are you talking about at this instance?"  
  
His eyebrow arched at her rather snarky bitterness. She was usually snarky without all the acid lacing her comments. "Our last conversation ended too abruptly. I wanted to make sure we understood each other."  
  
Chloe looked around to make sure no one would hear their conversation. She sighed. "I understand you just fine, Lex. You were right. I was wrong. You know my track record with guys. I run to the ones who don't really want me and run away from the ones who really do."  
  
"I don't want you hurt because of your involvement with me."  
  
"Yet here you are, seeking me out. Can't give up my company for long, can you, Lex?" She gave him a lopsided grin with that comment. "Or do you think it's safe to be my friend and just a no-no to be more than that?"  
  
He shook his head and took the mug from her hands. He sipped the warm drink and placed the coffee down. "We used to be better than this. Why have we suddenly turned into. this?" he finished lamely, knowing no words that would not insult them both.  
  
"It's my fault, Lex," she admitted. "We were already good together. I ruined it by telling you what I did." He did not comment. "It's kind of depressing. Now I have a peek at how my relationship with Clark would suffer if he finds out how I feel about him."  
  
He regarded her quietly for a few moment before assuring her, "It won't, Chloe."  
  
"Yeah, it won't. Coz with him, it's a crush."  
  
He looked so troubled that she fought the urge to advise him to just go. "You don't understand me."  
  
"By all means, Lex, explain."  
  
"There are things about me that you don't know."  
  
"I can't think of-"  
  
His hand shot out and closed over hers, effectively shutting her up. "Let me finish?" She nodded. He pulled him hand away before anyone else could see it. He rested back in his chair again. "I've been with a lot of women, Chloe. They come and go and they take what they want. But I never lose out because I take from them too. When I'm in a relationship, it's a fight for survival. I don't love."  
  
"Yes, you do," she whispered. "You loved your mom. You loved Pa-"  
  
"I love you," he cut her off. "And ever since I did it's been safe. You were my little sister that I can tease and talk to while I was away. You were my link to home just because the only person related to me can't be."  
  
She turned her eyes away from his serious regard. At that point, she was sure meeting his gaze would shatter her. This was the kind of love that they agreed on. And she just ruined it.  
  
"And when you moved away it was fine. My life was crazy. I was involved with things I wouldn't even want you to know about. It was better that Gabe took you to Smallville because I still had someone out there who cared about me, who saw me as the guy I used to be. When I called you, I felt like the Lex you believed in, Chloe, not the Lex I'd become."  
  
His words were quiet, and they brought tears to her eyes. She was amazed that they could share intimacy like this in the middle of a half-full restaurant without anyone suspecting that something was going on.  
  
"I could count on that girl in Smallville whom I could call if I wanted. If I felt really low, I'd pick up the phone and listen to you tell me stories about faceless people and still be entertained because you never treated me differently. You loved me, and I was so hard to love. That was something permanent in my life. And in my life, Chloe, you know that nothing ever seems unchanging. There was a time when I really felt I would die before I reached twenty."  
  
She felt the horrible burden of guilt weighing her heart down. Chloe hated it with a passion. Why did she have to feel this way? She felt like she betrayed him.  
  
"And then I fuck up big time and dad sends me to cow town. The only bright spot was the thought that I'd see this blonde little girl who would tell me stories about her girlfriends and maybe I can take out for ice cream sometime."  
  
She frowned at him, never having heard before how he expected to find her after years apart.  
  
"I come to Smallville prepared to buy Shirley Temple some Barbies. For all those Calculus and Trig exams I aced, I forgot simple Arithmetic."  
  
She grinned tearfully.  
  
"Imagine my shock when I found a goddess."  
  
A bubble of laughter escaped her lips. She shook her head and wiped at her tears. "I'm sorry I ruined it, Lex. I didn't mean to fall in love with you."  
  
"I fell in love long before you did, Chloe. And I fell harder, because I never told you. I would never have told you if it weren't for what happened last week."  
  
For people admitting something so real, Chloe applauded their ability to stay in their seats and outwardly appear to be chatting. "Why not?"  
  
"Because I don't want to lose you. It's either you fall into the curse or you find out and decide to stay away on your own."  
  
"That's not possible," she denied.  
  
"Think realistically, Chloe," he told her. "Think of everyone you know and care about. And then imagine us walking up to them, hand in hand. It's the twenty-two year old devil and the fifteen-year-old high school student. I know you're not a fairy tale type of girl. So be true to yourself and picture that."  
  
She never took her eyes off him as she pictured everything, from Clark, to Pete, to her dad, to everyone else. Several silent minutes later, she smiled sadly, "Are we going to pretend now?"  
  
He shook his head again and corrected her, "Still."  
  
"I wish we could kiss. I mean, we're effectively breaking up, right? I think we became a couple for a whole five minutes there," she whispered.  
  
"We'll kiss. Someday. But right now we have to put this aside. And I just know if we kiss, the plan would go down the drain."  
  
"You're right." She grinned at him. "I think if we do I'll bite your lip so I'll never have to let you go."  
  
He grinned back, and how could a grin be so sad? "So we're not in love, Chloe. Effective now, that is."  
  
"Yup," she agreed. "My feelings for you are officially dead."  
  
And when Clark arrived and sat beside her, they held their gaze and wondered just who they were kidding. 


	17. Straying from the Game

STRAYING FROM THE GAME  
  
Chloe modeled in front of the full-length mirror in her room. She stood straight like a beauty pageant contestant, faced left, back and then right. She puffed her hair around her face and smiled brilliantly. And then she tamed the smile so that she only curved her lips.  
  
Chloe padded to the small dresser and picked up a comb and several pins. Holding the pins between her lips, she combed her hair and pulled it back, then glanced at her reflection from the left and the right.  
  
There was a brief knock on the door. It was most likely her father, checking up on the dress that she charged to his credit card. Like any good father, he would want to inspect if it showed too much skin, was too tight, or had a very high slit.  
  
"Cumin," she mumbled without opening her mouth. She had to be careful. There were only so many pins in the Sullivan house. She wasn't that much of a hair do person.  
  
The door slowly swung open and a bald head peeped in. She gasped, almost choking on the pins. She quickly coughed them out and wiped her tongue on a blanket. "Lex!" Her eyes quickly met his, then flew to the bed, and then back to him. They should have left things as they were. Now she was never going to be as comfortable in enclosed areas and soft cushions with Lex as she had been before.  
  
"You look gorgeous," he told her appreciatively as he looked her over. Lex smiled at the sight. "Proving to me everyday that you're all grown up."  
  
"As if you didn't know already," she threw back. "So what are you doing here?"  
  
Lex walked over to stand behind her. She could see their reflection on the mirror and marveled at how lovely they looked together. She thought of stepping backward and pressing herself against him. He was in his trademark suit and she was in her princess gown. How dreamy would it be for his arms to go around her waist and his chin to rest on the top of her head? She could even just lean back and rest against him. And then she would put her hands on his that would be pressed on her tummy.  
  
And then they would sway to the music that would play in the background.  
  
"I wanted to talk to you."  
  
"Really," she breathed. "About dad."  
  
And that clearly ruined her fantasy. Chloe blinked up at his reflection. She turned around so he could look into his eyes, not versions of his eyes that were far duller than his real ones. Facing him like this, she saw the confusion in his face. "It's bothering you, so share."  
  
Chloe shucked the high heels from her feet and found herself in the disturbing position of being as high as his shoulder. Just a few inches and her lips could be kissing his clothed chest. Her hand would move, a foot or two, and she could be pulling the jacket off of him. A few more minutes and her fingers would be peeling away his shirt.  
  
And Lex had a very real problem while she was having sleazy naked Lex thoughts.  
  
She forced herself to focus on his words.  
  
"Sometimes you wish for something so hard and then it happens. And you don't even get any satisfaction. Then you curse the day you even expressed a desire for it."  
  
Chloe nodded even though she had no firsthand experience about that. She didn't get wishes. That was a fact in her life. Whenever she wanted something so bad, it slips father away. When she was five she wanted a kid brother to boss around. Her mom left. No siblings any time soon then. And then she started liking Clark. He confided in her the next day that she liked a girl. Lunch that same day she saw him slack-jawed, drooling over perfect Lana Lang.  
  
Recently, she fell in love. And it did not to be rehashed in her head what the results of that were.  
  
That's why she figured that she would not wish for anything else in that aspect of her life. Her little jinx may start working and he could-  
  
"Dad finally extended his invitation for me to come back to Metropolis."  
  
And see, Lex was going to be gone when she hadn't even wished it. That jinx was getting more potent every day!  
  
"So when are you leaving?" she asked hesitantly. She would not wish for him to stay because the outcome would be the opposite.  
  
"Still thinking about it." He turned and walked towards her bed. He sat on the edge and Chloe's mouth dried at the sight of him there. If he moved to the center, stripped and lay down, he would be reenacting her dream last night. "I wouldn't have decided anything before I consulted you."  
  
Chloe blinked at him for a few seconds and then broke into a tentative smile. "Yeah?" He nodded, still unsmiling. "Thanks." She moved over to him and sat beside him, the cushion giving under her added weight, squishing them together. "You don't know but it means a lot."  
  
Lex picked up her hand and massaged circled on her palm with his thumb. "Actually I do know."  
  
She watched the invisible drawings he created on her skin, entirely absorbed by how pale their skins were. Against each other, rather than contrast, their colors blended. Chloe thought about all the friends she had, from those girls in Metropolis and to Clark and Pete. None of them would ever touch her like this. And the game she had were Lex had one implicit rule. Friendship. So why was it that they can do this and feel so utterly right?  
  
"That's a beautiful dress. Is it for prom?"  
  
She nodded, closing her hand over his busy one and twining their fingers together. "I'm hoping Clark would ask me," she said softly, because wishing that Lex would take her was not only ridiculous, it would also end the dilemma of whether or not he would accept the position his dad was offering.  
  
"Yeah?" he said, in a voice just as modulated.  
  
"Uhuh."  
  
"You'll make a lovely couple, Chloe."  
  
"I know. He's tall and dark haired. And I'd totally look like a princess beside him, you know. I bet our pictures would look good too. I might even have one framed," she stated, nodding her head to emphasize her very valid points.  
  
"Well Clark would be stupid not to ask you then," he continued, agreeing with everything that she said. "No one would look better beside you than he would."  
  
"No argument here." She tightened her grip on his hand. Chloe felt his hold on hers tighten as well.  
  
"I wouldn't trust anyone else with you, Chloe."  
  
She raised her face to meet his again.  
  
"And I owe Clark my life. That should be enough to restrain me from killing him."  
  
And she grinned. 


	18. Heart Shredder Soul Reaper

Chlexville Season 1 Episode 17 HEART SHREDDER / SOUL REAPER  
  
//Hello. I'm not home right now. Following a scoop because nothing scares me! If you have information pertinent to the weirdness that is Smallville, leave your message after the beep. If it's personal, don't clog my machine.//  
  
BEEP.  
  
"Chloe, where are you? I was just going to tell you I have to go to Metropolis to deliver back my dad's trash. What scoop? How many times have I told you not to chase after every damne-"  
  
BEEP.  
  
"Your machine did not just cut me off. What the hell is wrong with it? I haven't even been on for a full minute! Chloe, if you are there and not just picking up-What am I talking about? You're probably really chasing down mutant freaks. Chloe, I'm telling you again that you're not suppose to- "  
  
BEEP.  
  
"Shit. I'm buying a new answering mach-"  
  
TUT-TUT-TUT-TUUUUT.  
  
Lex looked at his mobile phone in disbelief. What the-The batteries had died down. "Piece of crap." He tossed the phone to the passenger seat and took the wheel in one hand. With his free one, he dove into the glove compartment for his charger. "Where is it?" he muttered.  
  
He carefully maneuvered his way through the almost nonexistent Smallville traffic. He debated whether or not to just pass by the Sullivan house or the Torch office to inform Chloe personally. He quickly vetoed the idea. Dominic may be a weasel, but too long confined in the trunk might hurt his feelings. The real reason though was that he had been staying away from her physically. The change in his feelings occurred when he saw her again after so many years. Maybe not seeing her will change it back to the way it had been before he arrived back in Smallville. He'll give it a few years. Maybe.  
  
"Great. You pay several hundred dollars on a cellular phone and it's useless," he muttered, giving up on finding the charger. When he steered his way out of town, he found the charger plugged in. Lex quickly connected the phone.  
  
~~  
  
"Ooooh messages!" Chloe's mind ran with all the source information that was contained in that mini tape. It was a miracle of technology, this receiving messages while you're not home. She pressed the red button and leaned back, preparing her Pulitzer prize speech about the spontaneous combustion killing off the people in Smallville.  
  
BEEP.  
  
"Chloe, where are you? I was just going to tell you I have to go to Metropolis to deliver back my dad's trash. What scoop? How many times have I told you not to chase after every damne-"  
  
BEEP.  
  
"Your machine did not just cut me off. What the hell is wrong with it? I haven't even been on for a full minute! Chloe, if you are there and not just picking up-What am I talking about? You're probably really chasing down mutant freaks. Chloe, I'm telling you again that you're not suppose to- "  
  
BEEP.  
  
"Shit. I'm buying a new answering mach-"  
  
TUT-TUT-TUT-TUUUUT.  
  
She giggled madly. Of course she was pretty disappointed that there were no prize-winning information that would get her name on the front page of the Daily Planet. That was priceless though. It did not hurt that it was evidence that Lex cared enough to inform her of his plans.  
  
Chloe decided to return the favor. She picked up the phone and dialed his mobile number from memory.  
  
'Sorry. The phone you are trying to reach is out of network area.'  
  
She turned off the phone and frowned in confusion. Sure, Smallville was no man's land. But Metropolis was not that far. She refused to believe that cellular companies believed that civilization was so distant from Smallville. She tried again.  
  
'Sorry. The phone you are trying to reach is unattended.'  
  
"All right, what was that?" she demanded of the air.  
  
Chloe dialed again.  
  
'The number you have dialed is either busy or unattended. If you wish to leave a message in the voicemail, press 8.' Chloe pressed 8.  
  
"You leave me frantic messages and then you turn off your phone. How polite was that? Anyway, thanks for telling me. But why on earth didn't you get one of your lackeys to deliver for you if that's trash. I never figured you for a hands on type of guy, Lex. I'll be waiting for your call for a few minutes but I have to head out after that. Journalism is a demanding endeavor."  
  
~~  
  
Lex picked up his phone and looked at the battery icon. There was one full bar charged. He turned it on and checked his voice mail. It would just be his luck if Chloe picked that full twenty minutes that the phone was off to return his call.  
  
BEEP  
  
"You leave me frantic messages and then you turn off your phone. How polite was that? Anyway, thanks for telling me. But why on earth didn't you get one of your lackeys to deliver for you if that's trash. I never figured you for a hands on type of guy, Lex. I'll be waiting for your call for a few minutes but I have to head out after that. Journalism is a demanding endeavor."  
  
BEEP  
  
He pressed number 2 and the call button.  
  
"I am a hands on type of guy."  
  
There was a short stammer in the background, and Lex grinned. It was a power rush to know that he can affect Chloe so much.  
  
"I know you're a hands on type of guy, Lex. You've impressed me with your work ethic since you arrived. I admit I never expected so much from you," came an older man's voice from the other end of the line. "What prompted this call? Is it that accountant Senatori?"  
  
Shit had never been more conspicuous.  
  
"Gabe," Lex replied calmly. "Yes. I was looking for some reassurance that you approved of the way I do the job. Thank you for that."  
  
"Uhhmmhmm."  
  
"Is Chloe there?"  
  
"Well she was sitting right here beside the phone for a while but she headed out a while ago. She brought her mobile with her though. She said to tell anyone who calls for her that she's answering until she has to turn it off when it gets dangerous. You have any idea why my daughter is talking about being somewhere that can get dangerous?"  
  
"No. Well I have to go. Goodbye, Gabe."  
  
"Bye Lex."  
  
Lex hurriedly dialed Chloe's mobile number. It would be even luckier for him if the time he spent talking to Gabe Sullivan was enough for Chloe to get into a situation when she would need to turn off her phone.  
  
"Come on. Come on."  
  
"Hello!" came the cheery answer.  
  
"Turn the car around and drive home now."  
  
"Oh hey Lex! Finally!"  
  
"Chloe, whatever it is that you're planning to do, I don't need to know. I do know that it's going to be illogical and brash. So go home now."  
  
"So are you having fun driving yet?"  
  
"Chloe-"  
  
"Relax, Lex. I'm with the ever heroic Clark Kent. He'll save me from spontaneously combusting."  
  
"That's not funny."  
  
"Oh relax. We're here in the morgue. He's at the other end snooping."  
  
"Well, it's dark, cool, forbidding. What a romantic setting."  
  
"Can I say eewww?"  
  
"You already did. Are you enjoying your time with Clark?"  
  
"You wouldn't believe how much," she said dryly.  
  
"Well I'm going to meet Victoria for coffee," he told her, "just like we agreed."  
  
"Couldn't you have picked anyone other than Victoria Hardwick? I mean, seriously, Lex, you're like looking for pain."  
  
"She can't affect me anymore," he assured her. "How about you and Clark who I believe you said only has eyes for the illustrious Lana. You would have done better with Pete Ross."  
  
"Yeah but Pete will kill you while Clark can kiss you back to life."  
  
"For the last time, it was mouth to mouth resuscitation."  
  
"Mouth to mouth, lips to lips, what's the diff?"  
  
He growled. "Okay, I see Victoria coming towards me, wearing a slinky red shimmery top. I have to go."  
  
"Sure," she replied brightly. "Have fun!"  
  
"You too, Chloe."  
  
Lex turned off the phone and continued driving. He still had about an hour before he arrived in Metropolis, enough time to think about what to tell his dad.  
  
~~  
  
Chloe was still grinning, blinking back the moisture that suddenly clouded her vision. Something did not sound right with that conversation but she was too upset to think about it.  
  
"Hey Clark! Find anything?"  
  
"Not yet, Chlo!"  
  
"Oh okay." After a while, she asked, "You're having fun right?"  
  
Clark looked up at her from under the gurney and frowned. "What, Chlo?"  
  
She shook her head. "Never mind." 


	19. How I Do Drone On

HOW I DO DRONE ON  
  
"You know, Lex, you can't keep doing this to us."  
  
Lex Luthor turned around and saw Chloe leaning against the doorframe of his study, a digital camera hanging from her neck and a very disappointed look on her face. "To the best of my knowledge, I haven't done anything worthy of that disillusionment on your face, Chloe. Unless you're talking about what happened between Ms Castle and I, and you're not that brilliant of a reporter to have found that out."  
  
Chloe frowned and shook her head. "The only thing you told me is that she was doing an article on you. And we will get back to that issue later. I cannot imagine what kind of ego trip you were on these past couple of days, and I dislike the fact that killer bees have kept me so busy I couldn't get on your case about that until today."  
  
Lex pulled out his chair and took a seat. He motioned to the empty seat in front of his desk. He waited until she sat down on it and removed her camera. "So what have I done that's stupider than trusting Ms Castle? I must have if I've drawn you away from your all-important investigation, which I assure you will be one of the topics of conversation for tonight."  
  
She rolled her eyes heavenwards.  
  
"If I knew, I would not be asking. Don't roll your eyes at me like a child. You're not a child anymore."  
  
"Then stop treating me like one. And for your information, Lex, Clark Kent is older than I am. So stop treating him like one either!"  
  
"You've completely lost me," he told her calmly. "If you'll modulate your voice then we may be able to jump onto the same wavelength."  
  
She huffed and sat up straighter on the chair. "What possessed you to be Clark's Cyrano de Bergerac?" she demanded. "And don't tell me you didn't give him that speech about how I'm the only constant in his life, Lex. You already gave me that line. Don't think I wouldn't have recognized it."  
  
"Don't blame me if the men in your life all think of you as special, Chloe."  
  
"Oh screw that," she snapped. "Lying to me has never been your strongest suit. You can't manipulate everything. We already agreed to see other people. You don't need to make sure Clark can spout the best words that will make me fall in love with him."  
  
"I made sure Clark was equipped to face you," he explained. "And believe it or not, those words came from him. Not from me. I told him to tell you how he felt."  
  
"And it just so happens that he felt exactly the way you did two weeks ago?"  
  
"Yes," he answered simply.  
  
"Lex, do you want me to fall out of love with you?"  
  
"More than anything in the world," was his swift answer. "But then again, I've been wishing that I could fall out of love with you too and that hasn't happened yet."  
  
She sat in front of him, unable to reply. Lex slid out of his chair and walked over to the shelf. He took a small white box and handed it to her. "What is this?" Her gaze fell to his hands, which were now unbuttoning his shirt. "Lex, we have real issues to deal with. And I don't think I'm ready for you to-"  
  
"Chloe, it's summer and dealing with two strong-headed female journalists is trying. So put that on, follow me and shut up. I'm guessing you can do two of those."  
  
She took off the cover and gasped at the two pieces of fire engine red cloths inside. Chloe picked up the string of one and lifted it up for inspection. "You've got to be kidding me."  
  
"It's a private pool." He smirked. "Besides, we have so many things to talk about. You're pissed about Ms Castle; I'm pissed about your continued lack of precaution. Don't you think we should both have eye candy to temper the irritation?"  
  
"You must be really mad if you think you'll need to see me almost naked just so you'll forgive me," she told him with an arched eyebrow.  
  
Lex sighed. "Like I would need to be mad for that. At least at the state of mind I am in now, there is one percent more possibility that I am not liable to jump you in that. It's my only chance to see you in red string bikinis. Aside from my fantasies that is."  
  
"We have a sick, sick relationship," she said, heading for the small bathroom at the side of the study.  
  
"What does it say about me that this is the noblest one I've ever had?"  
  
"You are a sick, sick man. And you should be able to provide me eye candy too. Whatever you did with Ms Castle, I'm sure it smacks of Luthorian general nastiness. Be prepared to give me a treat when I come out."  
  
The door closed behind her. Lex could imagine the sight of her shimmying into those bikinis of his choice. "I've got it taken care of." He quickly shrugged off his shirt and dropped his pants, revealing his pre-selected swimwear underneath.  
  
When Chloe stepped out of the room, she found the study empty. On the desk, Lex had left her a note that he went on ahead of her to test the water. She took a robe from the bathroom and padded her way to the pool.  
  
"No fair!" she called out. "What are you doing in the water? I haven't had my eye candy yet."  
  
"Show me yours and I'll you mine," he told her.  
  
"Is that how you make deals? No wonder LuthorCorp is on the top." Still, she untied the belt and let the white robe pool around her ankles. She stood with a sly grin on her face. Lex really knew how to pick women's clothes. In the bikinis she felt every curve accentuated. The color contrasted with her pale skin, making her feel like a siren.  
  
"Very nice," he said coolly, managing to outwardly appear calm. He ruined the image by swallowing deeply before continuing, "I think for the first time I'll let your rash chase of a story go. I'm too dazzled to complain."  
  
She basked in the admiration for a few more moments before demanding, "All right. I showed you mine. Now fork up your assets." Chloe watched his arm muscles ripple as he pulled himself up from the water. He stood at the opposite end of the pool, his chest dripping water that she had the intense urge to lick away one drop at a time. Considering how wet he was, she was sure she would enjoy the week she would spend doing that job.  
  
"Well?"  
  
"I'm not impressed, Lex," she choked out. "Your trunks are just like any other trunk. There's nothing extra spectacular about it." She was lying through her teeth and she knew it.  
  
"Well you haven't seen the back." He turned around and showed her. Across the black trunks, streaked on his butt, were screaming yellow words - PROPERTY OF CHLOE SULLIVAN. He turned around again and grinned at her. "Like it?"  
  
"How was the water?"  
  
"Freezing," he informed her. "I'll have it warmed up in a-"  
  
"Good!" She jumped in and gritted her teeth at the icy water enveloping her. She would have had flashbacks of the heat-sucking freak if it hadn't been for the fact that she badly needed heat sucked out of her right at that moment.  
  
When she resurfaced, she saw Lex a few feet away from her in the water. "So you liked the eye candy? Had it made specially for you."  
  
Her teeth chattering, she replied, "Man, this thing with Ms Castle must have been very awful if you think you needed that low blow."  
  
"Come on." He reached out and pulled her slick body against his and enjoyed the frictionless rubbing. "It wasn't too bad until Clark came in telling me how you stood in the election. It was only about one reported spinning for me so I can have some positive press. But then I realized just how ethical my best girl was."  
  
"I didn't even know. I doubt I would have found out if you didn't tell me."  
  
His eyes drifted to her lips, wet with the pool water and becoming increasingly magnetic by the second. Their skin, sliding against each other, started warming from their own body temperatures. "I've learned that I can never hide things from you. You're the only constant-" Lex found himself dunked into the cold water. He sputtered up and saw Chloe a few feet away. "What did you do that for?"  
  
"I can't believe you! You already gave Clark Kent copyright of that line when you eagerly offered it so we could be friends again. You'll have to come up with another line, Lex." She waded over to him. "And another thing! I distinctly remember writing to you when you told me you were running for school council that the man of tomorrow is forged by his battles today." She poked his delicious chest with a finger that she debated running over his nip-She shook her head. "You two totally stole that from me and made it Clark's slogan. I could sue the two of you. I was gonna use that in my article about Paul until Clark shows up with this banner that says-"  
  
Lex had an image of himself shutting her up with a kiss. But then again, considering their state of slickness and undress, he let her drone on and on. It made her happy to think he listened. Since he did, well.  
  
"So I am totally taken aback. I casually ask him about that very nice, catchy slogan. Where did he get it? Of course it's from Lex Luthor. Brilliant Lex Luthor! Does everything I give you have to go to Clark? I swear if I give you my virg-"  
  
She clapped her hand over her mouth and Lex sighed. The girl did know how to shut herself up. Fancy that. 


	20. Crushed, I Turn To You

CRUSHED, I TURN TO YOU  
  
May 7, 2002  
  
They tell me that an average teenager goes through so much angst and pain over the most inane events. Over the course of my career as an observer and reporter, I learned to agree with the ironic fact that adults spout during therapy sessions and group meetings. I have had the immense pleasure of writing about the psychotic cheerleaders believing that the world would end just because their jock boyfriends fell on top of another cheerleader from the visiting team. (Notice the 'Drive Me Crazy'ness of it all.) While the blonde heads cry over the injustice of being known as the dumpee, the world spins around and children die of hunger on the other side of the globe. So much for Adlai Stevenson's shrunken globe and men no longer able to live as strangers.  
  
I am a cynic. At least when it comes to teenage drama, I am not very forgiving. I am fifteen years old and I hate being fifteen. If I were twenty, maybe they would entertain me at the UN Peacekeeping Volunteers stall at job fairs. If I were twenty, maybe I can leave the teenage crap behind and finally be free to lend assistance to people with real problems.  
  
But I am fifteen and no matter how much I try to be free of all the angst, I am trapped in its soap operatic hell.  
  
Maybe it's because I've not been blessed with Lana Lang's allure that although I would not admit it out loud, I am very insecure. Who can blame me? I exert so much effort to be the best person that I can be, and I get less attention than the girl who only has to turn her head and bat her long lashes. Either way, I am ashamed to say that I am starving for people to notice me.  
  
As I see it, I am on the losing end of each one of my male relationships. My mom left my dad and me when I was five. While that circumstance alone should have pushed the two of us together, my dad threw himself into work. Sure, I don't doubt how much he cares about me. I saw it in his eyes when we were held hostage at the plant. But the rest of the time I feel largely ignored. My dad has his own demons to deal with. If working with animal shit wards away those demons (It should; it gets me running and I am not a running girl.) then I won't stop him.  
  
Lex has more and less promised me that he would always be there for me. He loves me, sure. I'm in love with him too. And if you think those simple statements equal happy ever after then you should cough out fairy tales every minute. See, while I am trapped in this teenage hellhole, Lex can easily get out of this place and live the life he wants. Sometimes I think he's just as trapped as I am, and it's my fault. He can leave if he wants. It's not only his dad who has him locked down to Smallville. In those small fantasies I have that he has not disproved yet, he is staying imprisoned because of me. It's still the same though. I will always be left hanging because we can't stroll down the flowered streets of Smallville all in love. And Lex can always decide that he's tired of waiting. He can have any woman he wants-women who are not underage, and who has had all the baby fats that come with not reaching eighteen yet sucked out of their body. Victoria Hardwick proved that.  
  
Pete and Clark, my two very best buddies since moving to Smallville, have repeatedly showed me how amazingly unimportant I am in the greater scheme of things. Pete has only so much he can offer, and he puts all his time and attention to girls with whom he can have a relationship. Sure, he more or less admitted a certain attraction to me once, when he was affected by the Nicodemus. At the same breath, he gave me the answer to why he doesn't pay as much attention to me. The fact that I crave attention from Clark crossed me off his list. Clark, I have liked since moving here. Clark is the one who at every turn slaps into my face that I am not as pretty, as interesting, as loveable as Lana Lang. And Clark has the temerity to get pissed when I find an available guy who actually seems to care about me.  
  
May 7, 2002  
  
Strength is not the ability to perform physical feats that require muscles and bones. If I believed that, I would not be who I am now.  
  
I learned from my father the strength of will that gives you the determination to crush everyone who stands in your path to your rightful place on top of everyone else. It is his vision that propelled me to hone my mind, to achieve the honors I have received through college, the profit through my earliest business deals. The strength that he gave me is the strength that will allow me to exist as a name both admired and feared. I wonder if that strength will turn me into a man I would be proud to be.  
  
From my mother, I learned the strength of a heart that survives even though your body is failing. It is the strength with which you love that will see you through the darkest hour. It is this strength that I carry with me through all the hours of every day, the strength that carries me forward although inside I bleed at all that fate throws at me. My mother's strength gave me a weakness too. Often I wish that she had given me a shield to protect the Achilles' heel that her strength came along with. While my heart is strong, I intensely need to be loved in return. It is so easy to bring me down after that. Does my father not use this weakness against me all the time? He senses my need, and like the Luthor that he is, he plays on it. Mother set up. It was Pamela who first showed my dad how debilitating it is for me to be betrayed.  
  
Despite what happened with Pamela, what continuously happens with Dad, I cannot help but think that there is a flaw in the protective shield I have built around myself, because Chloe managed to worm her way into my heart so easily. I excuse myself and my sorry excuse for a brick wall by saying that Chloe Sullivan managed to come into my life before all that. She was the girl who was safely ensconced in my life way before the two women who professed to love me left me without a by-your-leave. Sometimes I think Chloe is a bane. She is the sole living testament to the fact that I cannot completely cut myself off from my heart.  
  
Away from Chloe, I am safe from emotion and from pain. Only people, to whom you give power to, can hurt you. I gave it to my mother and she is dead, beyond any means to hurt me even if she, impossibly enough, would try. Pamela has long disappeared from my life. The hurt from her betrayal and abandonment would always remain, but at least she would never be able to add to it again. My father and Chloe are the only two remaining figures with the power. I like to believe that I have strengthened my strength against my dad.  
  
What I did not count on, in this place where I am most vulnerable, before my mother's grave, was that I would see Pamela again.  
  
Over the course of the day and the night following that, I had fought off the urge to pick up the phone and talk to Chloe. This was my demon to fight, and she did not need to feel the weight of my hatred rested on my shoulders. To learn from my father himself that the woman who took care of me as only a mother could was dying; To learn from Pamela that all that I blamed her for was in fact sins my father committed. I abhorred being Lex Luthor then. Who I am was decided by lies.  
  
I want to return to Chloe unaffected by what I started learning just the day before. I wanted her to have the same regard of me as she had since she was five. But right at that moment I knew that would not happen. I would be an entirely different person because of this. I only wish that she would learn to accept who I will become.  
  
May 8, 2002  
  
The door swung open to reveal the tired, aging woman tucked into bed, hooked on machines that beeped into his brain memories of younger days. He had seen his mother in similar position many times before. It was the beginning of his resolution never to cry. After all, he had cried so much then and it changed nothing. His mother passed away, leaving him in the care of a woman who would eventually abandon him to his father.  
  
It had not been his intention to come to her for himself. He had only wanted to see her again, to tell her that he understood now. But when she began talking, telling him so many things he had desperately wanted to hear, the purpose of his visit changed. It was one thing to have assurances from Chloe. She was his heart and it was not better or worse that Chloe believed him to be a great person. It was so very different to hear it from Pamela, the woman his mother chose to take care of raising him. It was as if Lex were hearing the words from his own mother.  
  
"How much I wanted to help you grow up," she told him.  
  
"I wish you had," Lex admitted breathily. "I might be a better man." Faintly he imagined how much Chloe would have sputtered a protest to his words.  
  
"The fact that you're here speaks volumes about the man that you are. Your mother would be proud."  
  
Lex closed his eyes and muttered a reply. From his pocket, he drew a small book. He had spoken to the doctor, learned of Pamela's real condition. She did not need to hear anymore of the writings of a man who believed himself to be the universe, a man who felt the cosmos in his very blood. Swallowing deeply, because of how close the verses that would follow meant to him in all the time he lived without his mother, Pamela, and Chloe, Lex began, "To die, - to sleep -- No more: and by a sleep to say we end the heartache and the thousand natural shocks that flesh is heir to, -'tis a consummation devoutly to be wished."  
  
Pamela smiled sadly and closed her hand over Lex's, which rested on the white sheet. Lex turned his hand and intertwined his fingers around hers. "You're not scared of dying, are you, Alexander?"  
  
When his mother died, he desperately wanted to himself. It was a feeling most children who lose a parent felt. Death was no longer scary if someone you loved waited for you on the other side. "I'm not scared," Lex informed Pamela. "But I have so many things left to do here. I won't leave yet." He thought of Chloe, who remained on this side, waiting until they were both able to fulfill a promise. To assure her, he continued, "To die, - to sleep,- To Sleep! Perchance to dream: -Ay, there's the rub: For in that sleep of death what dreams may come, when we have shuffled off this mortal coil, must give us pause: There the respect that makes calamity of so long life."  
  
Lex felt her grip on his fingers slacken long before he finished the passage. Slowly, he closed the book and slipped it back into his pocket. He rested his head back on the chair and closed his eyes. And then, long moments later, he carefully extricated his hand, stood up and kissed Pamela's forehead.  
  
He drove away, back to Smallville, and the rain started to fall. There were messages on his voice mail, and he listened with only half his attention until he heard her voice. Breathing deeply, he headed towards the one place he would have rather avoided. Lex stopped his car several yards away from the interment.  
  
The rain fell heavily around him, and it was such a cold and dark day. Lex hoped that someone was holding an umbrella for Chloe. He watched the funeral from afar, and saw the people disperse, heading back to their cars, leaving the Fordmans at the site.  
  
And then he saw her running away, sobbing evident from the tremor of her shoulders. Her black shoes violently thudded through the muddy soil. Whatever she had seen or experienced during those last few hours, Lex was certain that she needed him just as much as he needed her. He slammed out of his car, unheeding of the mud that started to coat his expensive leather shoes.  
  
Lex called out to her, their distance from the rest of the attendees ensuring that no one would pay them any mine. She looked up and saw him standing under the rain, waiting for her on the other side. Chloe ran faster, her small beret slipping from her head, flecks of mud ruining her black dress. Lex met her halfway, and she threw her arms around him and cried into his shirt. The rain on their clothes made their steps heavier as they proceeded to his car.  
  
He opened the door, but she balked at climbing in. She looked worriedly at the pristine seats and mat. Lex shook his head and helped her inside, then dumped her muddy feet in after her. He opened the backseat door and took two towels from a bag he had taken with him to Metropolis General. Lex went to Chloe's side door and helped her get her shoes off. He handed her one of the towels to dry off, and wiped off the mud on her legs with the other one.  
  
The rain on his back provided a rhythm that he worked with. In his head, he was preparing the lines with which to tell her about his visit, about Pamela, about love and betrayal. Chloe gripped his wrists and forced him to look up. When he read the pleading in her eyes, he stood up and got into the driver's seat.  
  
Chloe used the clean towel to wipe his face dry. 


	21. Verdad Obscura

VERDAD OBSCURA  
  
The day was pretty hot although he could see from a distance that the horizon was shifting to accommodate the winds. Lex Luthor made his way through Smallville's dusty roads, smiling at the memory of his last conversation with Chloe. If he had any doubt before of how well they would go together despite their large age difference, all that has been put behind him.  
  
He had been busy the entire week. It had taken most of his free time outside the plant to push the paperwork on the Kents' losses caused by the chemical spill through the bureaucratic nightmare that he did not realize lay beneath the modern veneer of LuthorCorp. But he had promised Clark that he would look at the problem and now that it was finished, Lex barely inserted enough time to pick up the phone and wish Chloe luck on her interview at Metropolis. She had repeatedly turned down his offer of chauffeuring her to the Daily Planet, saying instead that he should take the time off to rest. She was more aware than anyone else how fatiguing it had been to face accountants and supervisors whose lips were familiar with his father's behind, at the same time not letting on that he needed the best deal possible to make up to the Kents.  
  
Lex felt bad about not being allowed to take Chloe to Metropolis. But then again, if Chloe decided that she can do something by herself, there was no sense lending a helping hand. Chloe Sullivan was intelligent enough to recognize when she would honestly need help. He did not need her blowing up for his anti-feminist ideologies. Last week was one of the rare times when she would show weakness. Even then, she still retained a strong grip on her self-control.  
  
"You should have stayed in the car," she had told him as he wiped the traces of rainwater coursing down his face. Chloe dabbed on his neck and waited for the towel to absorb the moisture. "Look at you. You're going to get sick." She briskly reached for the button on the dashboard and turned on the heat.  
  
"I'm not going to honk my horn while you're out there in the rain."  
  
"Well now we're both wet. Good job." Even as she said that, the small smile was already playing on her lips.  
  
Lex didn't argue. It had been so long since anyone fussed over him. Chloe's lopsided beret was falling off and he disentangled the pins that held it to her hair. Lex threw the black cloth at the backseat and looked at Chloe, whose blonde hair was now dark and matted to her scalp because of the rain. He took the towel from her hand and spread it, then threw it over her hair and rubbed her hair quickly. When he uncovered her head, it was to find her golden hair fluffed around her face. She glanced at herself at the rearview mirror and winced. "Hey," he assured her, "you're looking fresh."  
  
"Thank you, Lex," she replied dryly. And then she settled on the passenger seat and sighed. Chloe turned to face him now as he shrugged of his sodden coat. She reached for his hand and when she closed her hand over his, he turned his palm up so they could entwine their fingers. "Just, thanks. I didn't know what I needed there until I saw you waiting out here."  
  
"When you need me, I will always be there."  
  
"I know."  
  
Lex smiled again as he steered the car to the Kent Farm. He had such a clear picture of her trusting smile when she said that. The hour she returned from that interview she was certain to ace, he was going to be waiting at her house.  
  
After the rather stilted conversation with Martha and Jonathan Kent, and a brusque meeting with Roger Nixon in his office, Lex decided that he should do some investigative journalism. It was the perfect way to pass the time while Chloe was pursing her own dreams. He was not as talented as Chloe was in following up on leads, but since he had his own investigative reporter on the payroll, Lex played detective.  
  
The lead proved to be disappointing, although the disturbed pilot gave a story that he was certain Chloe would find fascinating. Lex took his phone from his pocket and dialed Chloe's number. He could just picture her reaction to the UFO narrative. Lex made certain to remember the way to the old pilot's house because Chloe was going to ask him to drive her back here when she came home. It had been the third time he called her since she left, and still she did not answer. Lex tossed the phone to the seat beside him and made his way to Gabe's.  
  
Lex pulled over the Sullivan house to find the place empty. He knocked on the door, hoping that Gabe was inside, and that the man merely forgot to turn on the porch light. A few minutes of knocking in vain, Lex grew both frustrated and panicked. He jogged back to his car and took his phone. He dialed the number at the plant. The assistant at Gabe's section informed him that Gabe Sullivan was called out on an emergency.  
  
"What emergency? Is he okay?" he demanded, although all his instincts were calling her name. "Who called him?"  
  
"The police came by about three hours ago, Mr. Luthor. It seems like Mr. Sullivan's daughter Chloe was on her way to the city."  
  
"I know that," he broke in, trying to hurry the woman on the other end of the line.  
  
"Oh. Well her car was found abandoned on the side of the road, sir, by the woods. Mr. Sullivan lef the plant in a hurry."  
  
Lex froze with his hand on the ignition. He could feel his entire face growing numb, and his limbs feeling so weak and paralyzed. He squeezed his eyes shut and breathed, counting from one to ten, because he would be no help like this. When he had calmed himself, Lex asked the assistant if she knew where Gabe headed. Eliciting no intelligent answer, he hung up and dialed Chloe's number again, knowing already that it would be in vain.  
  
"Shit." He ran his hand over his face and sped out of the Sullivan driveway, heading to the road of out Smallville. "I should have driven you, Chloe." Lex stepped on the gas and left the dusty trail behind as he passed through fields and fields of corn. When the fields vanished and turned to woods, he scanned the darkness and found the lights of the various police car parked around the small car she used.  
  
Lex screeched into a halt right in front of the investigators gathered there. He stepped out of the car and stalked towards Gabe. "Anything?" he rasped.  
  
The older man looked up at Lex worriedly, barely registering that his boss had not even been told about the development. "Nothing. Her bag is inside. There wasn't a sign of struggle." Gabe ran a hand through his hair. "They said that the single set of tracks were heavy, and the person could have been carrying a body." Lex noticed the difficulty Gabe was having breathing. "My daughter's unconscious, Lex. That man could have ki-"  
  
He handed his keys to Gabe and gripped the older man's shoulder, primarily to cut off what he was afraid of hearing. "You should have called me, Gabe. I need to be a part of this." Lex swallowed because there was no point in blaming, especially not the father. "You can stay in my car and rest. I'll see what I can get out of them now." Lex saw the police officer standing beside Chloe's car, flashing his light inside. He approached the man and tapped him on the shoulder. "Have you fingerprinted the car?" he asked. "I want the identity of the person who took her. Give me the name. He has to have some kind of record. I'll take care of the rest."  
  
"I'm afraid there's nothing here, Mr. Luthor. We'll have to wait and see what turns up in a day or two."  
  
Lex looked at the man in disbelief. "You're saying you'll wait until Ms. Sullivan surfaces dead, and then you'll look for clues?" Lex was about to say something else when Gabe suddenly cried in surprise. Lex turned and saw the man waving them over with his phone.  
  
"Clark found her!"  
  
He did not notice the police officer before him anymore as he rushed over the Gabe Sullivan. "Where is she?"  
  
"He took her to Smallville General. Clark found her, Lex."  
  
Choked by his own joy at the news, Lex collapsed into the leather seat of his vehicle and headed towards the hospital. "Is she all right?" he whispered as they made their way through the night.  
  
"Clark found her buried in a metal coffin off at Chandler's Field," was the quiet answer. "Chloe's tough."  
  
Lex drove just a little faster, because of all the people who had ever been connected to Chloe Sullivan, he was the only one who knew enough to know that Chloe's not so tough after all.  
  
It was with sad despair that Lex stood outside Chloe's room in the hospital, looking in through the glass window. Despite all his promises, Lex was not available when she was almost burned to death at the school. He came too late to save her when the boy who sucked body heat came after her. In his own house Chloe had been attacked not once but twice under his supervision. And now, Clark Kent released her from certain death. All he was were talk and promises.  
  
She looked so pale and shaken there, as she lay in bed, real tears coursing down her cheeks. He was certain that she would not easily forget the ordeal she had been through. Lex saw how she gripped Clark's hand as the boy sat beside her. She clung to the only safety she knew now.  
  
Lex recognized that while she may want to be with him, it was Clark Kent she needed. He loved her enough to give her that.  
  
fin 


	22. Past the Tempest, Into the Vortex

PAST THE TEMPEST, INTO THE VORTEX AN: Thanks to the Smallville Fan Fiction Resources for the short email transcription from Tempest.  
  
She adored the chic espresso machine that graced Lex's kitchen. That was the entire reason she always hung out in the manor. Chloe wondered if telling him that at this moment would cheer him up. She mulled over that for a moment before deciding to trash the idea. The joke wasn't cheering even her up, and she was just affected to the second degree. Lex was the one who was in hot, no, boiling water here.  
  
Chloe poured two cups of the lovely smelling coffee and brought it with her to the table, where Lex was slumped, head in hands. "How are you doing?"  
  
He looked up at her and managed a brief smile that quickly vanished. "It shows, doesn't it?"  
  
"Terrible then, I take it." Chloe grinned a little to lighten the mood before settling on the chair beside him and taking his hand. "You're not alone."  
  
"You're hiding it better than I am," he responded. Lex picked up the steaming cup and help it up to his nose, breathing in the scent that always reminded him of a golden-haired ten year old sipping the dark liquid in secret during grown-up affairs. She had blossomed so beautifully and settled into this new community, a town that was in such stark contrast to the fast-paced life she was used to in Metropolis, and now his problem with his father would uproot her yet again. "Chloe-"  
  
"It's not your fault," she quickly interjected.  
  
Lex sighed and sipped the hot espresso. "If it hadn't been for my stubbornness-"  
  
"I would so hate you," she completed for him. "It's not you to just blindly follow what your dad tells you. If you suddenly turned into his robot, I wouldn't recognize you for the guy you are, Lex. And I would have hated it if you left me to be your dad's-what did he call it-special adviser to the chairman emeritus?"  
  
"Impressive title, isn't it?"  
  
"Translated roughly, that's spineless lackey, Lex."  
  
He cringed at the stinging remark, although he knew it was not directed at him. He pitied the man who would try to take on the reigns with Chloe Sullivan present. She was a spitfire and she was remarkably lovely to be so caustic to specific people. "Right now the only available move for me if to go back to Metropolis and work for dad, get into his good graces and convince him to reopen the plant."  
  
"Lex, I don't want us to go back to Metropolis in any semi-permanent basis!" she protested.  
  
Lex smirked. He was aware that she was talking about returning with her father, but for the purposes of his delusion, he took it to mean that she and Lex would leave Smallville and move to Metropolis together. A man could dream.  
  
Despondently, she took her reporter's notebook out of her bag and rifled through it until she reached a blank page. Chloe started scribbling some figures and tapping her pen on the wood. Lex would have found it irritating if another person were doing it. Because it was Chloe, he adjusted to the rhythm and let her noise soothe him into some sort of calm after the storm caused by his father's announcement.  
  
"If only your father didn't own the plant, he wouldn't be so high and mighty about it," she commented.  
  
He reacted so quickly to her words that he took his arm's support away before he even raised his head. Lex hit the table loudly and Chloe pushed her chair back and ran to him quickly. "Ouch," he mumbled, and looked up with a reddened forehead.  
  
"Oh, Lex, that's nasty!" she gasped. Chloe reached to trace the soreness gingerly. "Poor Lex. It's like the entire world hates you today."  
  
"Thanks for the pep talk, Chloe."  
  
She giggled and pressed a small kiss on the hit. "I can't help it. That was like the stupidest way to get yourself injured!"  
  
The soft brush of her lips, amazingly enough, made him forget about the throbbing pain for a few seconds. When it started again, it did not matter because he had just been kissed. "You'll love me when I tell you why." He caught himself a little at the end, when he remembered the exact extent of loving they can allow now. She was going out with Clark. There was no other perfect partner for Chloe.  
  
"I already do," she told him cockily. "But please dispense the wisdom."  
  
"It will take guts from my employees. And a lot of help. Trust too. It will be hard."  
  
"I know how they look at you, Lex. At least I know very well how dad does, and he's like the bellweather, so don't worry about that. They will be behind you as long as you sound logical." She waited patiently as he seemed to be deep in thought. A few seconds later, she prodded, "Well are you going to tell or do I have to squeeze it out of you?"  
  
Lex nodded and took a deep breath. "Here's the thing."  
  
When he related his plan of the buyout and his generous offer to use the money that his mother had left to him, Chloe was speechless. She stood up and hugged him tightly. "You have to meet with them!"  
  
"You think it will work?"  
  
Chloe nodded vigorously. "Of course it will. It's sheer brilliance!"  
  
"All right. I'll do it." Lex stood up from his chair. "I'll call Gabe right now."  
  
"I wish I could be here to see your triumph," she said, hands clasped before her like a proud parent. "But I need to get to class. Call me when you're done?"  
  
"I will. Thanks, Chloe."  
  
"Good luck." She stepped closer to him, but miscalculated the distance so they stood so close, almost pressed together. Chloe bit her lip and looked up at him from beneath her lashes. "Ummm.. good luck. I know, if." She could smell his fragrance, almost feel his breath, this close to him. "If anyone can make something like this work, it's you. Lex." And he was so beautiful up close. "You can pull it off, Lex. I believe that."  
  
Lex closed his eyes as her words washed over him like the much-needed balm they were. He sniffed her hair and leaned his head down to catch more that a whiff. "Chloe." His eyes fluttered open and he saw her lashes flickering. "Thank you."  
  
She nodded. "Anything." That brief instant she forgot that she was going to Spring Formal with her hero Clark.  
  
~~  
  
[I].rebel, prompting Alexander to march on their city. Calmer heads do not prevail. Alexander seizes the "opportunity" to send a powerful statement to the rest of his empire. He and his armies kill six thousand Thebans, demolish the city, and sell the 30,000 survivors into slavery. Scorched earth, Lex. That was how Alexander the Great chose to inaugurate his reign at what my college history professor liked to call the first modern empire's birthplace. But that is only history. Now you have a choice between seizing the opportunity or fleeing from the danger. What you so will define your regime, as Alexander's actions defined his for generations to come.  
  
I sincerely hope you will seize this "opportunity" to show your father and the business world -- as well as those of us who serve you -- an example of righteous and compassionate leadership. My family and I pray that you will.[/I]  
  
Lex smiled slightly, allowing himself just a measure of comfort from his plant manager's thoughtful extension of support. From his conversations with the man, which ranged from his daughter's latest misadventure to the Pyrrhic victory that was every war the United States fought, the two of them had established a relationship that extended any normal working one. For all intents and purposes, Gabe became a father to him at the times when Lex would allow him to. This was such a time. While his own father was determined to destroy the identity and the life Lex had created for himself in Smallville, Gabe seemed to take it upon himself to back Lex's decision and show him that he respected the younger man's strength of character and ability to head the company.  
  
He idly wondered how proud Gabe Sullivan would be if he learned that his proposal came about because of his own daughter. Lex held back the information, knowing for certain that if Gabe believed Chloe might have influenced Lex, he would withdraw his support. It would not be because he did not believe in Chloe, but because Gabe knew that Chloe too often got caught up in the moment.  
  
Even though Gabe himself advised in his email that it would be the brash and bold moves that would allow him to defeat the enemy, it was a different thing if his own brazen daughter contributed to the plan of attack.  
  
He was confident that he learned of Gabe's support. Just as Chloe had predicted, the rest of the leaders of the various unions of employees of the plant assented after learning of Gabe Sullivan's decision.  
  
Lex wondered at his own self-respect when all it took for him to rethink his offer was his father's magnificent and repulsive entrance, veiled threats and a sheaf of paper that gave his father the Smallville Property and Loan. After his father walked out of his study, he immediately picked up the phone to call the one person he knew would be able to converse with him rationally until Lex was able to form another plan.  
  
"Gabe," he said curtly into the receiver. "Tell me. Do you remember how it was that Philip of Macedonia paled in the annals of history? What was it that enabled Alexander to push past his father and establish his name and legacy throughout the world, while Philip's name soon became nothing but an appendage to the emperor?"  
  
~~  
  
Roger Nixon was haunting him. It was true what they said, that your old mistakes would come out as soon as you found peace and they would destroy you. Lex would not let Nixon take away the fragile happiness he had found in becoming friends with Clark Kent.  
  
Months ago, Lex had spoken to Chloe about the man. He confessed to hiring the man to stop hounding him. Then he had told himself that to have the reporter trailing after him would expose those who were close to him to unpredictable types of publicity. He knew how the press would create stories, titillating yet untrue. He did not want to take a chance that one day he would wake up to a cover story about Clark being his illegitimate brother, Lana being a transvestite or Chloe being his underage bed partner. Chloe had giggled at first, told him that he had the most amazing imagination. Her reaction had lightened his guilt, and so he gave her another truth. He wanted Roger Nixon to investigate the accident.  
  
Sobered by the heavier burden on his shoulders, Chloe had rationally explained to him that he did nothing wrong by hiring Nixon to dig deeper into a mystery that puzzled him too. "Lex, there is nothing wrong with asking. It's the root of all knowledge. I would be the last person to stone you for being curious, for needing to investigate."  
  
He did not know when it got out of hand. All he wanted was to see Clark, ask him carefully phrased questions about the Spring Formal and advise him, as his friend, to make sure that Chloe had fun. When he found Clark, it was to see him being hounded by the same mistake that was snapping at Lex's tail now. And he was forced into another lie. He hoped that fixing his friend's tie would make up for the smallest deception. Lex certainly did not do it so that Clark's date would think him handsome.  
  
When he came back to the manor on the night of the Spring Formal, Lex found himself stalking back and forth in his study. He was moody and irritated. The past few days have not been kind to him. As if the problem with the plant and Roger Nixon were not enough, it suddenly hit Lex how much of a milestone tonight would be for Chloe. Knowingly, he had sent her off with the boy she had been attracted to. This was one of those nights that a girl remembered until she died.  
  
His eyes fell on the table and the missing metal octagon. Having found something to vent his frustration on, Lex tore the room apart searching for it. He went through his desk and threw the contents of the shelves into the floor in his mad hunt.  
  
That was the state he was in when his father walked in. Lex was in no mood to parry his father's words with biting ones of his own. In retrospect, the content of his conversations with his father was the same as the ones he had with Gabe Sullivan. Now they argued about forging destinies and forfeiting futures, topics he had spoken about at length with Chloe's father. The harsh criticism Lex took with every one of Lionel's interjections worked to enrage him.  
  
"I believe the words were 'Cry havoc and let slip the dogs of war!'"  
  
Lionel grabbed his son's face, pulling it close to his to spit the threat right where Lex was sure to register it. "I'll bury you and everyone in Smallville who takes your side!"  
  
Outside, the weather built and the storm climbed in the same proportion as the argument between the two men inside the house. The glass windows exploded and sent the shattered pieces into the study, the force knocking both Luthor men down. Where the strong personalities of both failed, nature succeeded.  
  
Lex staggered to his feet, his injured eye sending a blinding pain through his brain every once in a while. He looked down at his father who begged him for help. This was the man who just assured him that if he wished, he could make certain that Lex would be destroyed. What irked Lex the most was that in the same breath, although indirectly, Lionel had threatened both Chloe and Gabe. He had no idea how much of his life his father knew, but he would not put it past Lionel to know everything he shared with Chloe.  
  
His mind worked quickly through the possible consequences of his decision at that moment. The glaring answer was that he could not allow his father to die while reasoning in his mind that he was doing it so that Chloe would not be hurt. He pulled his father to relative safety and called for an ambulance.  
  
Unable to move from the floor, Lex was unable to pick up the phone when it rang several times. He heard the machine ask the caller to leave a message.  
  
"Hey," the soft feminine voice came through the now quiet air of the study. Neither of the Luthor men moved. Lex listened. "There's a twister. I think. I think there's actually three according to the principal. I'm not sure. I wanted to call and make sure you were safe." A slight pause. "I'm here at the gym, waiting. You know. I shouldn't be bothering you. I just called to tell you to take care. Clark left. I'm. I'm just here. Well-"  
  
The line was cut off. Lex reached for the cell phone beside him again to call Chloe back, make sure that nothing bad happened. There was a dead tone on the line. Just as he suspected, mobile networks were down. Still trying to catch his breath, Lex glanced at his father who seemed to be slipping in and out of consciousness. He hoped that he never heard that message.  
  
Lex performed his duties as Lionel Luthor's son, accompanying his father to the hospital despite his deepening worry for Chloe. He tried his phone again and again but found that the networks were still down. Once Lionel was stable, he called the school from the hospital landline and was informed that the students at the Spring Formal already left an hour ago. He tried dialing the Sullivan house but there was no answer.  
  
He was going to drive around. Lex was going to take the chance. She may have ended up helping out or taking pictures of the damage caused by the natural disaster. He was frantic and panicked and strode out of the hospital just a second before the door to the Emergency Room opened and Chloe rushed in to pick up Lana Lang.  
  
~~  
  
Morning the next day dawned bright on Smallville, mocking the citizens who were anxiously awaiting news of their missing relatives. The sunlight ill suited the ravages left by the twister. The Talon, temporarily turned into a Tornado Relief Center, saw people coming in and out, the venue for a community coming together to help members with their various tragedies.  
  
Two people that never shadowed the Talon's doors that morning were Chloe Sullivan and Lex Luthor. After spending the night back in the hospital seeing to his father's needs after finally being able to contact Chloe, Lex drove to the Sullivan house for breakfast.  
  
Gabe warmly admitted him into his house just before he left to see if there were damages to the plant. The older man was still hopeful that either Lionel Luthor would change his mind or that they could find another way around the obstacle that Lionel planted their way.  
  
Left by themselves, Chloe and Lex smiled at each other. Their last encounter had them pressed almost from head to toe. Chloe jerked her head towards the living room, indicating that they should go there. To Lex's surprise, he found a veritable breakfast feast on the coffee table. They dropped down on the couch, squished together, but neither minded. After a scare such as the one the day before, they ignored the impropriety of their position.  
  
Lex picked up a muffin dripping with honey and held it a couple of feet above the plate, waiting for all the excess syrup to drop back on the ceramic. Chloe watched him bite into the confection with an expectant look on her face. When he swallowed, she asked, "Well?"  
  
"You did not make this!" he exclaimed in a half-moan.  
  
She squealed and clapped her hands. Chloe wondered if it was a sin to be so delighted while a lot of families out there were suffering from losses. "It's that good?!"  
  
Lex nodded and grinned. He held the sticky pastry to her mouth and said, "Try it for yourself."  
  
"I was just waiting for you!" She bit off a healthy chunk and groaned in pleasure. "I'm so good," she mumbled through her full mouth.  
  
They finished off the pile on the table and sighed. Lex leaned back on the couch and Chloe followed soon after, slumping against his form. "You're a breath of fresh air," he told her as he smelled her hair. His eyes widened when some of her hair stuck to his honeyed lips. He quickly picked off the blonde strands and tried to wipe his mouth with his handkerchief. "After that huge blow out with Clark, and that long night with dad, you're just what I need."  
  
Chloe smiled and looked up at him, but did not remove her head from his chest. "It all comes back to the two of us. No matter what we try to do in between, these moments are the ones where it's most comfortable. You wanted me to try it with guys you think are more suitable. I keep doing that, Lex. But after Sean, you were the one who took care of me. After Justin, you were there with your flashy car and nice fluffy towels. Now, after Clark, and it's so weird to call it that, you're still the one I come back to."  
  
Lex held her gaze, silently agreeing with everything that she said. Now, all those thoughts he had been thinking were being spoken out loud, and he was almost afraid. There was going back or hiding behind the pretense that they were not aware of the other's intentions. "What does that tell us?"  
  
Chloe reached up and touched the bandage on Lex's eyebrow. And then her fingers trailed down his cheek. She brushed her thumb on his lips. "Maybe this," she answered. Chloe's lips parted as his went closer. She closed her eyes and sighed in relief when his lips touched hers. Chloe felt the electric tingle rush through her toes and her fingers. She smiled against his lips when she felt his tongue tease her mouth to open again. Tentatively, Chloe allowed his tongue entrance. The hot slick movement in her mouth made her feel full at first. Lex's tongue wrapped around hers and all she felt then was the warm parry. Her bones melted into warm fluid. She melted against his body.  
  
The hand that was cupping his cheek not fell to rest on his shoulder. Chloe moaned softly in her throat when his lips lift hers. She opened her eyes to find out where he was going. There was no chance to tell him not to leave because the next thing she knew, she was being moved from his chest to the foot of the couch. She lay limp and weakened by a simple kiss.  
  
His eyes sparkled when he took off his coat and loosened his tie. With flair, Lex whipped it off his neck. He covered her with sleek, fluid movements. Despite the added weight, she was certain that she had been transported to heaven. Out of her mouth, his tongue now did naughty ticklish things to her ear.  
  
"You tasted like honey," she sighed.  
  
"So did you," Lex whispered into her ear. He inserted his body between hers and the back of the couch. When Chloe felt like she would have fallen, he spooned her and held her around the waist, tight against his body.  
  
"What happens now?"  
  
"You have to leave for your internship," he said. "And I have to attend to my father's treatment in Metropolis. We'll be together away from prying eyes."  
  
"Lex."  
  
"I love you, Chloe."  
  
She closed her eyes and let the words surround her. They've said it so many times before. Now it was different. Somehow, it was more complete. "I don't want them to know. Not yet."  
  
He was silent for a moment. Chloe knew that he was weighing her decision. Finally, he said, "All right." His tone was a little disappointed, but it was not from her decision to keep one more part of them a secret from their friends.  
  
"I love you more." His relief was evident, and so was his joy. Against her shoulder blade pressed against his chest, she was feeling the rapid beat of his heart. 


	23. Do You Know How To Preheat the Oven?

DO YOU KNOW HOW TO PREHEAT THE OVEN?  
Getting away from her cousin was easier than Chloe expected. All she had to do was pretend that she had a bad day at the Planet. It took a few choice curses muttered into the darkness of the guest room she was staying in. Her cousin asked her is she wanted to turn on the lights, and to that Chloe responded with, "Why? My entire journalistic future is shrouded in darkness. I should get used to it." Chloe almost giggled when Lois made a full five steps backwards. The brunette waved and stammered, "I guess I'll see you in the morning, Chloe. Won't bother you anymore tonight. I'll tell your dad you went to sleep early."  
  
And with that, Chloe got Lois to hide her from her dad without having to tell her cousin any juicy details. Because her cousin would not dare to bother her in her black mood, Chloe was certain that Lois won't check up on her during the night. The moment she heard the television in her cousin's room, Chloe slipped out of her own and tiptoed her way to the door.  
  
Of course there was that classic method of stuffing pillows under a blanket. If Lois does come into her room to peek, she would find a rather plump figure tucked under the sheets. Hopefully that will give Lois a reason not to disturb 'Chloe.' You shouldn't wake up someone in a bad mood, especially if she's obviously gaining weight.  
  
Now here she stood outside Lex's place, eager to see him after such a long time. It had been-she checked her watch-a good ten hours since they met in his car during her lunch break. He had been on the way to the hospital and she was sent out to place their coffee orders. Suffice it to say that the entire Daily Planet office was calling the coffee shop because their beverages did not make it up to the staff on time. Lex had only just arrived from Smallville. He couldn't exactly leave the plant while it was still recovering from the tornado. A lot of the employees haven't returned to work yet because of injuries and property damage. And so for the past few days Lex had been commuting to and from Smallville and Metropolis every day. Chloe had promised him a nice, restful night tonight.  
  
She rang the bell and the door immediately opened. "Expected," she said to herself, very satisfied. Chloe walked in with her overnight bag. They had planned for Lex to sleep over in Metropolis for the night and just return home in the morning. He would drop Chloe off at the Daily Planet and he would continue back to Smallville. As far as plans went, this was simple enough. They would spend the night watching movies and talking. They haven't done that in a while. Lex would get all the rest he had been missing and he would get it in the tender care of one Chloe Sullivan. This was something that would never happen in their quaint little town.  
  
"Hey Lee-eex!" she called out as she dropped her bag on the two thousand dollar designer couch. "Where are you?"  
  
"Wait there!" was the reply.  
  
Chloe plopped down and shucked her shoes off while she waited. Seeing the remote control, she turned on the television and settled in to watch Lex's default channel. She scoffed when the tv memory sported the five major business channels and one ESPN. He certainly led a rather boring life apart from his secret love life. She grinned. She was the secret love life. How adorable was that. She wondered how sleazy their cushy relationship would be portrayed should the press ever get a whiff.  
  
Speaking of whiff, Chloe sniffed. That was very odd. Lex's place never smelled of anything other than lavender and sometimes chamomile. He needed the aroma to relax and be rejuvenated. She rose from her seat and followed the burnt scent.  
  
To find herself standing in the kitchen staring at a Lex Luthor whose bare chest had dried drops of fudge batter, his tapered fingers hidden in Bugs Bunny oven mitts and his smooth forehead dotted with perspiration. Chloe cleared her throat and Lex looked up at her in apparent horror. Within a nanosecond, that expression turned into surprise, vulnerability and then one more nanosecond after than, the cool calmness that was just Lex. He said, "I have the plant running smoothly back home, and I closed a deal with a an Australian packaging company that would cut production cost by twenty nine percent."  
  
She chuckled at the rather defensive tone he used. "And for all that, Lex Luthor looks like a ragamuffin in his own kitchen."  
  
His stance relaxed and he smirked. "You wanted a fun night." Chloe walked into the kitchen and surveyed the damage he had caused. "I thought I'd make chocolate cake."  
  
Chloe picked up the box on the table and read the label. "First off, this is Betty Crocker Fudge Brownies, not chocolate cake."  
  
Lex shrugged. "I went to the grocery, saw the picture in front. It looked like chocolate so I picked it up."  
  
She shook her head. Despite her modern woman skills, Chloe prided herself with her talent for putting together instant baking products. She looked into the oven and turned on the light. She held her hand out to Lex, "Hand over the bunnies." With an exasperated sigh, Lex took off the mitts and gave them to Chloe. Chloe opened the over door and the timer went ding.  
  
"It's done!" Lex announced.  
  
Chloe slid out the steaming puddle of mud. With her right foot, she nudged the oven door close. "Lex, this is awful!"  
  
"Thanks."  
  
Hearing the defeated voice, she smiled at her-she really can't say boyfriend because she's shy-maybe future husband-and evil laughter resumes in her brain. "Oh but it's the thought that counts!" she assured him.  
  
"And again, thanks," he replied wryly.  
  
Chloe saw the stack of empty boxes and thought that the Pyrex container on the table contained too little to have consumed all of the contents in those boxes. "Where are the rest, Lex?" He pointed to the sink. Chloe went over to inspect each one of the aborted attempts at brownies. They were either too soft or too hard. When she cracked the top layer of the hard ones, she found the bottom still uncooked. "Beginner's mistake," she pronounced.  
  
"And what did I do wrong? I followed the instructions."  
  
"Did you preheat the oven?"  
  
"It's hot enough!"  
  
Chloe sighed. "Do you have one more box?" Lex strode over to the cupboard and showed Chloe the dozen more lined boxes inside. "What, did you buy out the entire stock?"  
  
He grinned and told her, "I knew this was going to be trial and error, Chloe."  
  
"Okay, get me one box and watch the master at work."  
  
Lex plucked one box from the cupboard and handed it to her. He indicated his appearance and said, "Maybe I should clean up first."  
  
"No!" she said sharply. Lex furrowed his brows. "Sit. Watch. And then I'll clean you up."  
  
"Chloe!" he exclaimed, his eyes sparkling with laughter, "what will your father say?"  
  
She arched an eyebrow at him. Quickly, she worked the ingredients into a rough mixture and looked around for the mixer. "Like you care."  
  
His hand shot out to grab her wrist. "You haven't greeted me yet. After all my hard work to bake you a cake."  
  
Chloe felt herself being pulled into his embrace. She didn't put up much of a fight. Chloe allowed herself to be seated on his lap. She worked her leg over his so that she would straddle him. She sincerely hoped the chair would not give under their combined weight. She missed his hands, and now those hands traveled to the back of her head, leading her lips right on his. "Efforts," she gasped, when he released her for a moment. "They were efforts because he never got around to baking one." But then his fingers made those beautiful movements on her nape. Her eyes fluttered close when those long fingers, previously encased in the cartoon gloves gracing her hands, massaged her scalp. She grabbed his cheeks to deepen the kiss, smearing chocolate fudge on his face.  
  
The whirr of the electric mixer buzzed in their ears, but the music in their ears was the pounding beat of their hearts. "Missed you, Chloe," he whispered. The vibration and his breath against her lips caused a warm throbbing inside her. Lex slid his hand to her exposed neck, feeling the silky skin against his palm. He gazed down at the paleness of her skin and saw her grin. Lex caught his breath when she fixed her gaze on his face. There was an intent in the green orbs that he was certain he had never seen from Chloe before. And then he almost choked on his own tongue when she moved closer. He thought that she would kiss his cheek. Indeed, it started out as a kiss, before her tongue darted out tentatively and she started laving on the dried batter on his skin. "Chloe," he managed to say. Lex groaned. He meant to say it as a protest, but instead it was a sigh of pleasure.  
  
"Tell me about your day." For the life of him, he could not think of how he would be able to do that when she was licking away all the energy he had. When he did not speak, Chloe pushed up and looked down at him.  
  
The loss of the warm flesh of her tongue moving across his cheek propelled him to speak, "Since I'm going on a two-week business trip in a few days, I spoke with the doctors for the final decision. They will begin my father's therapy soon." He released a sigh of relief when she smiled in satisfaction and looked over his face for more dried batter. "Chloe!" he gasped when his vision finally focused on what was going on behind her.  
  
He helped her off his lap. Chloe looked behind her and cried out. Lex pulled her with him to the edge of the kitchen. He bit his lip at the discomfort at the crotch of his pants. The Pyrex bowl was empty now, the mixer continuing to whirr and sputter bits and pieces of the brown batter. Lex carefully pulled the plug and looked back at Chloe. "Turn around." She did, and Lex smirked. "You've got bits of batter all over your back and your hair."  
  
"Oh no, I have to wash up!" She turned to fetch her clothes, but Lex grabbed her hand.  
  
"I'll clean you up."  
  
She stared at him in indecision. Chloe moved into his arms and shook her head. "When we get back to Smallville, we'll tell them. Right now, we'll just sleep. Okay?"  
  
"I'll see you in back home after my business trip then. Come on. I'll show you where the towels are." Lex couldn't help himself. He saw the batter on her once clean shoulder and bent to taste it. "You really do make the best batter," he murmured against her skin. 


	24. The Heat is On

THE HEAT IS ON  
  
The heat was stifling and she had not heard from Lex for two weeks. He was supposed to have arrived last night. Lex promised her that he would call her the moment he was settled back in the mansion so that she would know what time they would meet. Since her father had no idea that they had taken their relationship to the next level, they decided that it would be best to meet at his place. There was no need to give Gabe Sullivan an early heart attack, which he would have if he found his boss and his daughter getting it on right on his living room couch.  
  
Chloe had been looking forward to the first day of school since Lex dropped her off at the Daily Planet office before heading back to Smallville. Today, they were going to tell Clark. They would do it together because they knew that Clark would not believe that they were in love otherwise. After all, for all the boy knew, Chloe was still hung up on him.  
  
Because Lex had not called since he left, Chloe was concerned and hurt. The plans would definitely change. She had been itching to scream to the entire community who looked at her with pity in their eyes (Smallville was a small town) that she had found a man to love who would love her back. When she and Lex were open about their involvement, nobody would shake his head and think that that was the poor girl who was left during prom because her date went after Smallville's favorite princess.  
  
Lex better have a really good explanation for completely ignoring her calls for the last fourteen days.  
  
Seeing Clark talking to Lana, she hesitated. Finally, when the two said goodbye and Lana went her way, Chloe took a deep breath and faced Clark. It had to be done sometime. Clark's longing gaze at Lana made her long even more for Lex, wherever on Earth he dropped off to. "It's good to see some things never change!"  
  
Clark hugged her to him, and Chloe was filled with a warm gooey feeling inside her. As sad as she was with her boyfriend missing in action, she could still appreciate the comforting gesture of a friend. She hugged him back.  
  
His greeting was enthusiastic, but Chloe felt herself halfheartedly responding to Clark. She did not know how to talk to him now, having such a huge secret she wanted to share. From the way he talked though, Chloe detected that Clark was still on the train of thought that they was a romantically charged tension between them that they needed to settle. Eager to have that feeling gone and unable to come out with the truth, she made up some lie about another intern so that she could rush to class.  
  
~~  
  
The fire during Biology was heavensent. At least that was what she thought when the accidental flaring of the projection screen gave them a reason to rush out of the school building where, even though the sun was directly glaring down on them, the air actually circulated.  
  
The students around her were noisy. Chloe only wanted to head home and wait beside the phone for Lex to call and apologize. There was a slight hush in the student body that caused her to turn around and smile. He might have ignored her for the last two weeks, but Lex would never ignore any threat to her safety. He was predictable like that.  
  
The silver car parked haphazardly in front of the school lot and her gorgeous man came rushing up. "I came as soon as I heard!" he exclaimed as he strode towards her. Chloe did not really want Clark to find out this way, but natural is always good. She beamed at the approaching man, only for the smile to fall when he headed towards the new teacher and embrace her.  
  
"Hi!" Lex said to the curvaceous teacher who was now rapidly turning into a bitch in Chloe's eyes.  
  
This was the reason that she had been set aside for the last half month? The feelings of insecurity that she had been fighting against since Victoria Hardwick rose suddenly, almost choking her. Lex had the image of the perfect woman. She had known that all along. Indeed, Lana fit the profile better than Chloe did. Lex wanted slim brunettes who fit the rest of the world's idea of what is beautiful. She was a fool to even think that Lex would forget about all those ideals for plain, blonde Chloe Sullivan.  
  
Chloe turned her eyes away from the sight of Lex embracing Ms Atkins. She rapidly blinked away the moisture in her eyes. She vaguely heard Lex thanking Clark for saving his precious treasure. She wanted to throw up.  
  
Just a few weeks ago, Lex was touching her like that. Chloe still remembered being held so carefully in his arms, like she was the most priceless treasure on Earth. How could it have changed so suddenly? They've been in love for longer than two weeks. This couldn not be serious.  
  
When everyone was asked to go back inside the school, Chloe remained behind in the pretense of waiting for Clark. He remained with Lex, talking. Chloe listened carefully, out of Lex's sight. Maybe Lex would tell Clark that this thing with Ms Atkins is not serious. Maybe Lex met Ms Atkins and the woman just would not take no. Anything would be preferable to what unfolded before her eyes.  
  
Lex handed Clark an envelope that she could not identify until Clark said in surprise, "This is a wedding invitation. For tonight."  
  
Chloe turned around so quickly that she stumbled on the unseen step and cut her knee. She lifted herself up with her hands and staggered inside the building. Outside, Lex asked Clark to be his best man, and she heard every word. She wished she didn't. She leaned back against the school main doors and took deep breaths, the one she knew calmed people down. Apparently, that only worked for those whose hearts weren't as crushed as hers.  
  
~~  
  
When she was a child waiting outside the meeting room in Metropolis for her dad to take her to baseball practice, Chloe Sullivan saw Lex slipping out of Lionel Luthor's office. She had waved him over at her and like the well- trained boy that he was, Lex sat beside their employee's daughter.  
  
"So what are you in for?" he asked her, because none of the other kids of the employees were forced to sit outside a conference unless they did something really awful. Lex was an exception because he was the president's son. He was the only one who was punished by having to hang around even if he didn't do anything wrong.  
  
She raised a golden eyebrow and cocked her head, making blonde bangs fall over her eyes. She blew them away and for one second they floated before settling over her lashes again. Chloe tucked it behind her ear. "I'm not in for anything. I don't get punished because dad thinks it's not a good idea to punish me," she told Lex.  
  
"What makes you so special?" the older boy asked.  
  
Chloe sighed and picked up her knapsack from the floor. She hugged it to her because she needed something to hug when she has to talk about it. "Coz I went through a tomatic experience."  
  
The boy furrowed what was left of his eyebrows. "What's that, Chloe?"  
  
"Well my mom left," she said in the lightest way she could manage it. Lex Luthor was no allowed to pity her.  
  
"You mean traumatic," Lex offered.  
  
"That's what I said," she snapped, waiting for Lex to judge her because she did not have a mom to tell her that tomatic was wrong. Because Lex had a daddy and a mommy plus a nanny, and she only had a daddy and sometimes a babysitter, he knew more stuff than she did.  
  
Lex nodded. "I know how that feels. Even if I push the fire alarm button I won't get spanked," he shared, "because I lost all my hair."  
  
The girl grinned. "That's kind of cool."  
  
He shrugged the comment aside and looked at her oddly. "So why are you dressed like a boy? Are you a boy, Chloe?" he taunted playfully.  
  
Chloe gasped in indignation and smacked Lex on the shoulder. It hurt but Chloe was sure Lex wouldn't cry and get her punished because she's the only one who had the guts to injure him. Boys want to get beaten up sometimes. "I am not a boy. I'm dressed in my uniform for baseball practice."  
  
"Baseball!" Lex exclaimed. "You're not only a boy; you're also so bourgeois!"  
  
There he went again using words that she didn't know because she just had one parent! Chloe ignored that and focused on what she did understand. "Girls play baseball too. You're such a loser because you don't get out much."  
  
"I've been to more countries that you know the name of," Lex snorted, because she hit right on the mark.  
  
"I'll show you." She unzipped her backpack and took out her "reporter's notebook." That was where she wrote down anything that interested her. She even wrote down her observations about how cute baldy Lex was. But she wouldn't show that page to him. Instead, she handed him the drawing she did of a dress. "That's my dream gown. I'm gonna get a gown like that when I can buy it. And gowns are for girls. I'm a girl!" she concluded logically.  
  
She found Lex Luthor looking at the drawing closely. He did not insult it like she expected. "What color will this be?"  
  
"White," she answered proudly, "because princesses wear white."  
  
"You're not just any princess, Chloe," he responded. Chloe blushed. "You should have more colors because you're more than just bland white. Maybe some lavender. I like lavender. Because I like you sometimes I think lavender will be pretty on you." He was the only boy his age who had a pen readily available in his pocket. Lex took it out and indicated the parts of the gown that would benefit from the shade. He handed it back to her and added, "You could have some yellow added in because it's like your hair."  
  
The muffled sounds and low voices from inside the room told them that the meeting was over. Lex stood up from his chair and smiled at her before slipping back into his father's office.  
  
The product of their short conversation then turned into reality only on the day she arrived in Metropolis for her internship. She wanted to cry at the fact that he remembered exactly how she wanted the gown to look like. The beautiful dress was waiting for her on her bed the evening she returned. It had a note clipped on it which said, 'We're going to an associate's garden party next month.'  
  
They never did go. The problems with the newly established LexCorp kept them both too busy to attend the party. She told him that it was better that way. Attending a party together, even without anyone from Smallville present, would reveal their involvement to the people they should have informed in the first place. Pictures in society pages notwithstanding, Gabe Sullivan would learn of it from one of the people he would have to talk to in the course of his job. The dress stayed inside the box unused, only seeing the light of day when Gabe informed Chloe that they needed to go to Lex's wedding.  
  
She did not know when she started hating herself so much that she wanted to cause herself as much pain as she could. She slipped on the gown, crying the entire time she did so as she watched the taffeta fall into place. Chloe tied the yellow belt around it and studied her reflection in the mirror, encased in the white silk, lavender chiffon and yellow satin confection that she and Lex whipped up once upon a time.  
  
Chloe had hoped that her appearance on his wedding day would at least trigger some sort of response from Lex. She could not have been that unimportant that she did not deserve a simple explanation. After everything that happened between them, Chloe felt she deserved even a simple, "It didn't work out. Too bad. C'est la vie!" When Lex's eyes merely passed over her figure as he scanned the crowd, she plucked a few orchids the exact same shade the lavender of her gown and threaded them in her hair. Pain is pain so being just a pinch more masochistic wouldn't matter.  
  
Just like a bloodhound with a knack for detecting blood, Clark appeared beside her and forcibly opened the wound by forcing her to talk about things she would have rather forgotten. "Only Lex Luthor could put together a fairly tale wedding in less than forty eight hours," she commented to lighten the mood. It was the wrong thing to say. Despite telling herself she was facing the reality of what Lex was doing right now, when it came down to it, she really was in denial.  
  
"Is something wrong, Chloe?" Clark prodded when he noticed the shift in her mood.  
  
She did not know how, when inside she was being torn apart, but Chloe managed to assure Clark that nothing was wrong anymore. For emphasis, she made a joke. It only hurt her, so it didn't matter. "But I still don't know how I feel about taking sex-ed from Mrs. Luthor. I can't believe Lex is married!" Mentally, she added an Oscar on top of her dresser.  
  
"He says he really loves her."  
  
"Yeah, well love is rarely if ever logical." How many times had Lex told her he loved her? Screw him. He could forget so easily and not even say sorry. Dammit, she had believed him too. Chloe excused herself before she broke down into tears right then. She stopped in front of the punch bowl and dunked her cup in. Who would have thought she would still hear snatches of voices she did not need to hear right then?  
  
"Believe me, when I left I had no intention of falling in love."  
  
Chloe sipped her drink and closed her eyes. 'Of course you didn't, you idiot! We had a commitment!'  
  
"Actually, she said she'd come to save me."  
  
'Oh please.' Chloe's mind was filled with the image of the indoor pool in the mansion. She pictured herself holding the treacherous Lex Luthor underwater. 'Then she would really need to save you.'  
  
"You can waste your time playing it safe, or you can go for it. But at some point, Clark...you just know when something's right."  
  
She tossed her empty cup onto the table, not even minding if it broke. Lex could afford it. She wanted to walk over there, slap Lex right across the face, hard enough to break the skin because that was only a fraction of how much he hurt her. And then, while he clutches his bleeding wound, she would scream at him that they went for it and they were right!  
  
Chloe swallowed heavily and ran towards her father, choking out that she had to leave. Gabe saw the state her daughter was in, and mistook it for her problems with Clark. After all, the Kent boy was the last person she spoke with. He led her off to their car for the drive home.  
  
~~  
  
Chloe told herself that she would forget Lex Luthor. She would remove him completely from her life. She was doing well before he came driving into Smallville and almost killing her very best friend. From then on, Lex Luthor was no one but the man who was sent here to oversee the plant.  
  
She even had a mantra. "I do not care what happens to Lex Luthor. I do not care what happens to Lex Luthor. I have no feelings whatsoever for Lex Luthor. He can go to hell for all I care."  
  
And then Clark Kent came into the Torch office asking for help regarding Desiree Atkins. The research rekindled the concern for the man she cared deeply for. Maybe Lex was being used. A meteor freak had him in her hyped up pheromone induced control. Was it so bad to be ideal enough to believe that if Lex really loved her, he would have resisted Desiree Atkins? She may appear cynical at times, but deep down, Chloe still believed that love conquered all. Why didn't theirs do that?  
  
Through her short message recording session in the Talon for Lana's video mail to Whitney, Chloe mind churned with doubts. Did this mean that the foundations of what she shared with Lex Luthor were so weak that one threat would send their entire relationship crumbling down?  
  
Both she and Lana turned to see Lex, still just a little sweaty from being in this temperature, stride towards them like an avenging angel. Chloe sat up just a little straighter in a futile move to shield herself from pain. One small part of her wanted a miracle, where Lex would see her and then he would fall down onto his knees and beg her forgiveness for everything he had put her through.  
  
"Lana. We need to talk."  
  
He did not even so much as spare her a glance. Chloe swallowed heavily and slipped out of her chair quickly before she either burst into tears right there or tear him apart with her nails. "Umm...I ...have to get some work done at the Torch." Chloe hurried away. When she pushed the door open, she looked back once. Lex never even turned to see her off.  
  
~~  
  
The first time his eyesight cleared, when the haze that had been lurking around his vision vanished, he was hitting the floor with such a force that jarred all his bones. Gunshots exploded above him. For a moment, his recollection of what had happened was a blank. The last thing he remembered was sitting at the back of his limousine, telling Chloe on the phone that he was leaving for his business trip. Now he was down on all fours, being shot at, and an image of Chloe wearing her garden party dress flashed before his eyes. Her eyes were so sad, and it looked like someone had made her cry.  
  
Lex rolled over and saw Jonathan Kent standing over him with a shotgun aimed at his chest. Suddenly, everything came rushing back to him. More than the terror of death, horror filled him at the knowledge that it was he who caused Chloe to be so sad. He shielded himself with his arms, a vain attempt at protection.  
  
The scuffle that ensued after that was a blur to him. All he registered was that Clark saved his life again.  
  
On his visit to Clark's fortress that same night, Lex answered his friend's questions with a heavy heart. It appeared as though he had spent the last few days expressing his 'love' for Desiree Atkins in public. There was no way Chloe could not have known. Even now, no matter how much he prayed that the images in his brain, of Chloe looking so defeated and so broken, were not real, he knew that they were.  
  
He had told Clark the truth. Under Desiree's spell, he had thought that he was in love with her. When he left the Kent Farm, he headed directly to the Sullivan's house. Lex turned off the engine and made his way to the front door. He waited for the door to open.  
  
"Gabe," he greeted. "Hi."  
  
"Lex?" the older man said. "What are you doing here so late? I heard what happened from Jonathan Kent. You should be at home resting."  
  
"Can I talk to Chloe first?"  
  
Gabe smiled at Lex. "You need some perspective then?"  
  
Chloe's father, having known about the friendship between her daughter and the Luthor heir, had recognized a long time ago that Chloe served to ground the young man. Lex nodded, hoping that it would be enough for him to be allowed into the house so he could see how Chloe was doing. They were supposed to tell Gabe and Clark about the new development in their relationship yesterday. Now he wasn't sure if there was anything left to tell.  
  
"Head home, Lex. You can talk to Chloe tomorrow. She's locked herself up in her room. She's got a broken heart." Gabe smiled sadly, the way only a father who sympathized with a daughter's pain would. "I've told her so many times. Clark will realize that they belong together. But she can't rush something like that. Chloe is a girl that men grow into."  
  
"She is. Tell her that, Gabe. She's worth more of the girls that the stupid men in this town go after put together. Tell her." Lex walked back to his car. He looked up at Chloe's window. Her lights were turned off and the drapes were closed. 


	25. This is Your Duplicity

THIS IS YOUR DUPLICITY  
  
Lex Luthor was in a mood. He sat in his office glaring at the wrapped package on his desk, debating whether or not to just take it and see for himself what happened on that disastrous day. Even now he could not remember all the details. All he knew was that he had been head over heels for Desiree Atkins. From those two days, all he could seem to remember was her face, her scent, her wet kisses. No matter how much he wanted to purge his mind of the feel of the woman, he could not do it.  
  
He had made love to Desiree Atkins for two weeks, and that was what darkened his mood so much. He had promised to himself since he had accepted that he was in love, that he would not touch anyone else. He wanted to give her a measure of respect, and himself a portion of dignity, with that vow. And the last two weeks had ruined his effort to become that much more deserving of Chloe's affection. He was surprised that she was not cursing him from here to eternity. He did not have proof of course. Chloe had made herself scarce since the wedding. Apparently, from what he had gleaned from his conversation with Clark, the last time that Chloe had seen him was when he stormed into the Talon while she was speaking with Lana. The fact that he did not even remember seeing her there testified to how much Desiree influenced his actions.  
  
Lex sat back and analyzed his situation. His time with Desiree had messed with his plans for the future, not to mention his blossoming relationship with the only person he wanted to spend the rest of his life with. He could not imagine the hurt Chloe must have experienced when he recited that promise to another woman. He looked at the package again and tried to summon the courage to reach out and see for himself.  
  
The door of his office opened to reveal an anxious Dr. Hamilton. The older man walked in, looking around nervously at first to determine whether or not they had privacy. This Lex could deal with. He reached for the small brown package and shoved it into the drawer behind his desk. While he was undecided about the things closest to his heart, business and research he could handle. This was what he was. He focused on the man's trembling hand. It reminded him of Earl Jenkins and the horror that he had gone through knowing that Chloe's life depended on his ability to think on his feet. Thankfully, while he was almost helpless in that instance, here he held all the aces.  
  
"Lex, I-uh-I thought we had an arrangement," the man said. "Why this sudden urge for a face to face?"  
  
To show his command of the situation, Lex reached for Dr. Hamilton's hand. He was still amazed at how Chloe had invested her time and effort finding out about this researcher. While people laughed off the stupidity that was Dr. Hamilton, she had been the one to believe that there was still credibility underneath the seeming insanity. Her own assessment of the man led Lex to take him under his wing. Now he needed to cut this short. Dr. Hamilton's obsession was fast catapulting out of his control. "You don't look well."  
  
"Why did you pull me away from my research?" the doctor demanded. Yet another reason to do what he had planned. Lex would not entertain that much disrespect from anyone except Chloe. And that was only because Chloe had other things to offer, things that Lex was not interested in if it came from Dr. Hamilton. He smirked wryly. Even in hot water he was still thinking of the same things. "You know I hate progress reports."  
  
It was time to cut the man loose. "I hear you're having some personnel problems at Cadmus Labs. They all quit when you turned violent and started throwing lab equipment." He was always disappointed whenever people who showed such promise was ruined because they allowed their emotions to get the better of them. Lex ascended to where he was now because he knew never to allow the baser instincts to overcome his logic. His father taught him never to allow emotions to rule. Because Lex knew that he was prone to feeling, he exerted more effort to keep them in check. He only failed a few times-with his mother, with Pamela, with Chloe. And with the help of a mutation, with Desiree Atkins.  
  
"They were incompetent. Look, I thought our relationship was clear. You write the checks; I have free reign to do my work."  
  
He made it sound so sordid. Lex shook his head. He had to finish this now because he had so much more important work to do. He had things to settle, but first he had to put everything in perspective. He told the doctor that he was effectively cutting off his funding of the project. As an afterthought, because he was trying to be a better human being, he offered to pay for the doctor's medical bills. The doctor took offense and slammed out of the room.  
  
When he was alone in the stillness of his office, he opened his laptop and reached for the package inside his drawer. On the brown wrapping paper, it read: 'Mr. And Mrs. Alexander Luthor. Congratulations!' The return address was to the photo and video coverage agency he had apparently hired from Metropolis. Lex tore the wrap and revealed a video tape and an accompanying compact disc. In silver lettering, it said 'The Wedding.' He stood up and poured himself a glass of brandy before inserting the cd into the drive.  
  
Lex watched as the screen revealed him standing at the end of a red carpeted aisle, smiling widely at a point in the distance. The camera cut to Desiree in her white wedding gown, the skirt full and extravagant. Her lips were curved in self-satisfaction as she marched down, waving and blowing kisses to the crowd to whom she was almost a stranger. He narrowed his eyes at the image of his ex-wife. He waited for feelings of regret and betrayal to stir inside him. Finding none, he looked at the woman he had married and found that despite being one of the most gorgeous people he had ever laid eyes on, Desiree Atkins was nothing.  
  
The vanity march was rather long. His fingers traveled to the touch pad and fast-forwarded to go to the reception. Just a few seconds and he glimpsed an image he never thought he would cause. He stopped and played the march at the point where Desiree was halfway down the aisle. The bride passed through the middle pews, but his gaze did not focus on her. He watched inside the beautiful girl in white and lavender and yellow look tearfully at the front, where Lex knew he had stood. The scene shifted to show the event from the back, where he had a perfect view of the bride, the groom and the audience. Desiree reached the makeshift lattice of flowers, arched like a rainbow. He had reached for her hand and brushed a kiss on her knuckles. Lex gripped the arms of his chair when he saw Chloe turn her head from the kiss and hastily dotted at her eyes with her handkerchief.  
  
The sight of Desiree wrapping her arms around his neck at the end of the ceremony, throwing her head back and laughing while he ravaged the long, smooth neck, contrasted with Chloe slipping away to the back, enraged him at both himself and the woman he had sent to prison. He knew that he was mad at Desiree because she used abilities that she gained from the meteor shower to influence the men around her. He was the victim now. Clark assured him of that. Why was he so mad at himself then?  
  
Even as he posed the question, the answer dawned on him. He cut Dr. Hamilton loose because he could not control him. Lex prided himself with being able to conquer his emotions. He was mad at himself because he could not control the situation. He was mad because his fear of losing control left him open to Desiree's manipulations. Deep down, whether he admitted it out loud or not, Lex was mad because the way he loved Chloe Sullivan was beyond his control. He wanted to be with Chloe and he hated having caused her so much pain. But knowing that he will be surrendering his hold on his feelings if this continued, was he really ready?  
  
It was a decision he had to make himself. Yet he found that he needed to see Chloe, to assure himself that he had not lost her for good, before finally deciding. He did not know the consequences to his own sense of himself should he decide that she was worth the loss of control, which she well was, and finding out that she was no longer interested.  
  
Since it was a weekend, he called the Sullivan house. There was no answer. He dialed the number to the Talon and was expecting Lana to answer. It was easy to fish for answers with Lana, because she never suspected anything about his asking. Lex predicted that even if he asked her directly whether or not Chloe was in the Talon, she would still not suspect that anything was going on that she did not know about. Instead, the voice on the other end of the line was unfamiliar.  
  
"This is Lex Luthor. Who is this?"  
  
"Mr. Luthor," the breathless voice exclaimed. "I'm Stacy, the new waitress. Do you need to speak with Lana?"  
  
"Yes, Stacy, I would. Could you call her please?"  
  
There was only a brief pause before Stacy's voice broke in again, "Lana's with her aunt and her aunt's new boyfriend right now. Do you still want me to get her, Mr. Luthor?"  
  
Lex sighed and replied, "No. Wait, Stacy."  
  
"Yes, sir?"  
  
Just ask and Stacy would not even know that it's not normal for you to want to know that. "Is the editor of the Torch there?"  
  
"Oh Chloe Sullivan?" the girl said out loud, and Lex almost groaned. He hoped that no one was sitting close to the phone. "Lana's just going to her. They're talking. Do you want me to get Lana now?"  
  
"No. Thank you, Stacy."  
  
Lex hung up the phone intending to go to the Talon. He did not care anymore whether or not people would see him approaching the Sullivan girl. He had to speak with Chloe now. He needed to settle this in his brain and in his heart before he could focus on anything else. Before he could go there, he poured himself a drink. He cursed when he heard the tapping of a cane and some insults.  
  
He turned around and saw his father walk in with a servant. Lionel Luthor sent the servant away. "Lex. Lex, are you in here?"  
  
Lex sighed and accepted the fact that right now he would not be able to see Chloe. "Yeah Dad. I'm right here. I'm sorry. I wasn't expecting you. Is everything all right?" He walked over and helped his father into a chair. "Your doctors tell me your recovery is going well."  
  
And then Lionel revealed plans that Lex could not oppose. It seemed that he would be having a guest. "How long are you planning to stay?"  
  
"A few days, maybe a week."  
  
Lex made a mental note that the moment Chloe forgave him enough to allow him to speak to her, he would tell her not to go to the mansion. He would not risk Lionel even suspecting that Chloe held a place in his son's heart, much less finding out that Chloe held the entire thing. 


	26. Now I See Red

NOW I SEE RED  
  
Chloe pushed at the Talon's doors on her way out of the coffee shop. Her short chat with Lana produced no real results. Aside from the fact that Lana Lang was working her shift right then, the girl was definitely keeping mum about what was going on with her and Clark. It was such a shame. Chloe really cared about Clark and she wanted him to get his life together. He was probably acting so weird because of all those feelings he was keeping from anyone else.  
  
She smirked at the thought. Those were feelings Clark believed he was keeping from everyone else. It didn't take too much observation to know how he felt about Lana. Chloe's life work was being observant. Surely he didn't think he could escape her notice. Clark Kent was as transparent as anyone else on the planet. If only Lex could take some of that obviousness that characterized her best friend, then that would be one problem subtracted from her endless list.  
  
She remembered that she was supposed to pick up a few things from the supermarket. With her father so busy at the new LexCorp, he had not had the time to list down all his necessities for her grocery visit last week. Just this morning, she found the hastily scrawled list on the table. Chloe felt around in her bag for her wallet.  
  
'Aha.' She opened the black leather and searched for the slip of paper with her father's handwriting. Chloe rounded the corner where there was a small branch of MiniMart. She walked smack onto the chest of a man and sprawled on the pavement. Her butt was on fire. The force that knocked her off her feet was so great that she was sure the man was in a hurry. She looked up with a biting censure on her tongue.  
  
Lex looked down at his victim. He had been so pissed about his father moving in with him and redecorating his office without his knowledge. He had only just left the Kents after informing them that Clark was at his place. Instead of being thanked for his concern, Jonathan Kent had driven him away with distrust and scorn. The combination of anger and hurt that he tried to tamp down was choking him. He had not even been looking at where he was going when he bumped onto someone around the bend.  
  
"Sorry." He almost cringed in preparation for the expected harsh words. Lex saw the flash of emotions playing on her face. In her eyes he saw the pain turn into anger and then shutter into nothingness. He repeated his apology, this time for something else entirely. "I'm sorry, Chloe," he whispered. Lex extended his hand to help her up.  
  
She placed hers on his, and he shivered inappropriately at the warmth. He had never wanted their first meeting after his disastrous wedding to take place somewhere this public. But rather than allow her to escape and not see her again, he closed his hand over her much smaller one. When she smiled at him, he caught his breath. He never thought that she would forgive him so easily. "It's nothing. We were both not looking at where we were going." When she tried to pull her hand out of his grasp, he saw the barely held panic in her eyes. That was when he realized that she had not forgiven him, and that she would rather push everything to the back of her mind and foster what hurt he caused her.  
  
He stepped closer, leaving only a few inches between their bodies. With the Talon just a few yards around the corner and the MiniMart behind him just two doors ago, they were caught right where a crowd could gather. Lex quickly decided that this was the best place to conduct this talk. She would not be able to protest too much when he began to explain. Chloe would not be able to fight him because she would never want to draw speculation on the two of them, who were barely acquaintances in the eyes of Smallville.  
  
"We both know that it's not nothing, Chloe. I hurt you. And you cannot imagine how sorry I am."  
  
She smiled stiffly. "Well you've just apologized. I accepted. Everything's okay."  
  
"It's not," he insisted.  
  
"If it's not okay with you, Mr Luthor, then that's your problem and not mine. Now if you will please let me go, I have somewhere to be."  
  
That she kept her voice low was an encouragement. She wanted to keep it low, just as he did. But he also wanted her to allow him to open the wound so that he could see just how badly it had festered. "Tell me I hurt you," he whispered. He did not take notice that a woman with a brown paper bag, filled with groceries, walked past them to her car. "You can't pretend that I didn't."  
  
Chloe sighed and closed her eyes, pretending irritation. "Mr Luthor, I said I'm fine. Sure, I have a very sore butt and a bruised ego. You've completely ruined what little poise I have."  
  
"Don't play games with something this important," he admonished quietly. Chloe's jaw tightened. "Chloe, please," he begged, carefully donning on a stoic mask. It would not do for all the people passing to see Lex Luthor openly pleading with a high school girl. They worked too hard for him to blow it now. He leaned close for a brief moment, long enough to whisper in her ear, "If we were in your house, or in mine, I would press my lips on your forehead, and then on each of your eyelids, on your temples, on your cheeks, on your throat. I would kiss you until you forgive me enough to let me kiss your lips."  
  
She took a deep breath. He looked down into her eyes. Again, that trembling smile. "But we're not, Lex. It makes no sense to wish that things were different." With determination, Chloe pulled her hand away from his and walked to the grocery store.  
  
Lex took a deep breath and turned around to see her vanish into the MiniMart. He walked behind her and pushed through the revolving doors, aware the moment he stepped in of the numerous curious glances thrown his way. He had never been inside the store before. He ignored those looking at him and followed Chloe to the aisle where she was pushing her cart. Fortunately, she was in a section that was deserted. Lex walked briskly over to her. He knew the moment she realized that he was there when her back stiffened. "Tell me what's wrong so I can make it better."  
  
She reached for a jar of mayonnaise and read the nutrition value at the back. Chloe didn't use to need to browse through those things. It was no longer negligible now. Her father was getting older, and it looked like she was going to spend the rest of her life with just him. She should be more careful from now on. She placed the jar in the cart and moved on.  
  
"Chloe," Lex repeated, getting frustrated. They went to the next aisle. The presence of other people silenced him. A young mother browsed through the cereal boxes while her son teetered on the child seat of the cart. Lex quickly reached for the boy and replaced him on the seat. When the woman saw Lex, she snatched the cart from him. Chloe saw the hurt look on Lex's face when the woman pushed quickly away from him.  
  
Chloe left the cart on the side and reached for some cornflakes. "You meant well. Don't mind that woman. She has no clue what kind of person you are." She placed the box in the cart and looked around for some more healthy snacks.  
  
Lex shrugged off her comment, although inside his heart warmed at the knowledge that she still believed the best in him while others would continue to judge him whether or not he committed a crime against them. Chloe, he had maligned. Yet here she was still caring enough to soothe him. "I hate this," he told her. "I hate that I created this distance between us. And I hate that I cannot get you to talk about it so we can fix it."  
  
"I've forgiven you. I, of all people, have to. I'm the one who researched on your wife," she said the word so bitterly, "and found out that she's a meteor freak. You had no control over the matter, Lex."  
  
He ran his hands through his scalp and gritted his teeth. "You can't dismiss it that way, Chloe. Affected or not, I did something that must have hurt you very much. So get it out of your system so we can put this behind us!" Chloe closed her fingers on the cart and pushed away from the aisle. Lex followed closely behind her. When she stopped to pick up some potato chips, he stayed behind her and said into her ear, "Or are you so afraid of your emotions, Chloe?"  
  
Lex knew he had hit a sore point when Chloe gently placed the foil pack on the shelf and slowly turned around. She met his gaze with an unwavering stare of her own. "What did you just say?" she asked casually.  
  
A Luthor never backed down. He repeated his words, "I asked you, Chloe, are you so afraid of your emotions that you can't face me with them?"  
  
It was the longest pause between them. The only sound was the piped in music and their breathing. Finally, she said, "How dare you."  
  
"I dare," he retorted. "Because you're a coward, Chloe, to run away like this."  
  
She drew back her arm and slammed her fist into his stomach. Lex bent low, clutching the injured area and coughing. "How dare you say that to me! I'm not the one who's afraid, Lex." At another moment, she would have fawned over Lex hurting as much as he was. Right now, all she saw was a red haze and the bastard accusing her of things he himself was guilty of. "Tell me why it was so easy for Desiree to control you. Tell me why you left yourself so open to her. Tell me how she found you, Lex, and then tell me that I'm a coward who can't accept her emotions."  
  
Despite the sharp pain in his gut, Lex managed to look up at Chloe who was glaring down at him angrily. It showed so starkly in her face now. She knew exactly how it happened. He did not question how she could have possibly found out. He never underestimated her skills for the profession she had chosen for herself.  
  
"Everything was happening so fast between us, Chloe," he gasped harshly. Grasping the shelf, he pulled himself up. "I'm not used to feeling this way."  
  
She nodded. "So you decided that while you had the chance, and you're on a trip, in a city where I would never see you, you would try one more time."  
  
"I needed to see just how firm your hold on me was. And I was wrong for doing it, Chloe. I didn't need another woman to waltz into my life to know that I won't fall for anyone else, not when you're mine."  
  
Her face wet with tears, Chloe stared at him. Hearing it from his lips made the betrayal hurt even more. "So you went to pick up a woman, placing yourself out there with a sign on your forehead announcing that you're available."  
  
"The moment I walked in and saw all those women I knew that I would never go home with any of them. You've ruined me for anyone else, Chloe," he confessed.  
  
"Am I supposed to be happy about that?"  
  
"I sat on the bar, needing only one drink before I could go back to the hotel, call you and tell you how much I already missed you."  
  
Her research only told her that Lex had gone to the singles bar, and she had glued together the events her way. After telling her that he loved her and that when they returned to Smallville, they would inform her father and friends about their relationship, Lex had gone to pick up women the first second he was away on a business trip. She wondered if knowing his version of the story helped at all.  
  
"I downed the drink in one swallow," he narrated. "I turned around to leave, because I couldn't wait to hear your voice."  
  
"And then you saw Desiree," she finished for him.  
  
"Yes. She came up to me and breathed these words right on my face. I can't remember what she said. Everything's a haze after that."  
  
Chloe blinked rapidly, droplets of tears still raining down her cheeks. She searched inside her bag for her tissues. Before she could draw one out, he had handed her his handkerchief. She hastily dried the tears and pushed the cart to the next aisle. "Why did you need to find out in the first place, Lex? Didn't you trust in us?"  
  
"I've never felt this way about anyone before, Chloe. I've lost control of the situation."  
  
She turned to him in confusion. "Love isn't about control."  
  
"Control has everything to do with love," he informed her. "When you love someone you protect her. That's why I didn't pursue our relationship earlier. You kept getting hurt in the mansion. And then when you were kidnapped, I couldn't do anything to help you. Clark saved you. I thought you would be better off with him so I pushed you to be with him."  
  
"What?" she asked in disbelief. "You can't decide for the two of us, Lex. It doesn't work that way."  
  
"I know that now."  
  
"You have to leave."  
  
So despite completely opening himself up and telling her exactly what he was afraid of and what drove the events that have almost completely curtailed their relationship, Chloe still didn't want to be with him. Lex tried to hide the disappointment and regret in his face when he turned around. Chloe caught his elbow and forced him to look at her.  
  
"You're going to go when you just thought that I never wanted to see you again. And you just decided not to show me how that made you feel," she stated. "You have to be open and tell me what's going on in your head. Lex, I asked you to leave because I didn't want people to see us. We're lucky we had that conversation without anyone spying on us. I just don't want people to see my red eyes and think that you had something to do with it."  
  
His relief was almost palpable and the sudden lightness in his heart that accompanied it hurt his chest. "Well I did have something to do with it."  
  
"Yes. You're a regular bully." Chloe smiled. "I'll see you later."  
  
"What will you tell anyone who asks why you were crying in the grocery?"  
  
"Clark and Lana went on a date last night," she informed him. "Believe me, people won't ask why I'm crying." She waved him away. "Now go. I have more shopping to do." Instead of leaving at once like he asked her, Lex leaned down and kissed her cheek. "You said earlier that you would kiss me on the lips when I've forgiven you enough."  
  
"Have you?"  
  
Chloe grasped the back of his head and pushed him down to take his lips with her searching ones. She rose on the tip of her toes and wrapped her other arm around his neck to press her body closer to him. His heartbeat was fast and pouncing heavily against her own breast. His lips were so soft against hers that she couldn't help but nibble on them when they released each other to take a breath. "I'll start being open right now."  
  
She smiled as she snuggled against his chest. "Okay."  
  
He pushed her away gently so that he could look into her questioning eyes. "I'll tell you what I'm thinking right at this moment."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"Wait. I have to show you some evidence first. I am nothing if not thorough." Lex picked up her hand and placed her palm over his rapidly beating heart. "Feel that?" She nodded. "That, Chloe, is just one of the proofs. I will never feel about any other woman the way I feel about you."  
  
Her eyes grew moist, but she successfully kept herself from crying. "And how is that?"  
  
"There are no words that can tell you exactly how that is. 'I love you' is a poor substitute."  
  
Chloe smiled brightly. She would send him away after a minute. Right now she needed another kiss. "That will do." 


	27. Nocturnes Whispered in the Night

AN: I would like to remind you that Chlexville is the same rating as Smallville. I apologize for the last scene. AAN: Chlexville has not been picked up for Season 3, so I am beginning to wrap this up. Don't holler at any event that you deem inappropriate for the season. AAAN: I apologize for being (1) sappy (2) mushy (3) awfully yikes. The title and the episode called for it. Again, please. Don't blame me if after reading this you get itchy. Even I haven't forgiven myself yet. Disclaimer: Seeing this makes it weird huh since I never write any. Needed it here though. The gorgeous and heroic George Noel Gordon, Lord Byron, the very hot Lord Alfred Tennyson, the errmmm weird Walt Whitman, the mucho delicioso tragic figure of Christopher Marlowe and the sugary Elizabeth Barrett Browning, and their respective words are not mine. But since they have been dead and anthologized for longer than any of us has lived, their poetry are considered public property. (Therefore I don't even need to disclaim them... Pffft) Chlexville Season 2 Episode 5 NOCTURNES WHISPERED IN THE NIGHT  
  
After Martha Kent left for the day to go back to her family. Lex faced his father down in the study. "There are a lot of things that I would suffer during your stay here, father. But this thing you have planned for Martha Kent I will not allow."  
  
"You wound me, Lex. I happen to believe that the woman is capable of filling the position. She is a better assistant than all those Ivy League graduates you've been interviewing." His lips curved into a smirk. "Good schools can only do so much. Look at you."  
  
"This is not a matter for your amusement, dad. I'm serious."  
  
"What is with you and the people I choose to surround myself with, Lex? You will never be satisfied with my choices," Lionel told his son.  
  
Lex shook his head. "If I were sure you only want her to work as your assistant I would have no problem. But I've seen you and women, dad. You never have a clear intent."  
  
"You are the last person I expected to react to this, son. You've lived and breathed certain words since you learned to read. Don't you remember? 'I draw you close to me, you women. I cannot let you go, I would do you good. I am for you, and you are for me, not only for our own sake, but for others' sakes. Envelop'd in you sleep greater heroes and bards. They refuse to awake at the touch of any man but me.'"  
  
"You disgust me, father. You drove Victoria back to depression when you discarded her after using her."  
  
"'I am stern, acrid, large, undissuadable--but I love you. I do not hurt you any more than is necessary for you,'" Lionel continued. "I am amazed that you can tell me how badly I treat women when you yourself are no better. Why do you think little Victoria Hardwick chose me, Lex, aside from my obvious sexual superiority?"  
  
"My relationship with the women I choose to see is none of your business."  
  
"Then why should my relationships be any of yours?" Lionel returned. "I'll tell you why Victoria chose me. I showed her what you never would. She complained about you, you know. You were closed off. You made love to her but you made it clear that it was nothing but a convenient arrangement. I told her things you would never have been able to."  
  
"Unlike you, dad, I reserve words that hold meaning until they are absolutely deserved. Victoria did not merit them."  
  
Lex frowned when his father acknowledge his answer with a nod. "I know. Even in your brush with matrimonial hell, despite the fornicating frenzy you seemed to be in with that meteor freak, you never uttered the words."  
  
Not needing to know what his father needed from him to make him deliver statement that almost reverberated with pride, Lex said a curt goodbye and started walking out of the room. In the background, his father's voice continued the lewd but very real lines, "Through you I drain the pent-up rivers of myself. In you I wrap a thousand onward years. On you I graft the grafts of the best-beloved of me and America. The drops I distil upon you shall grow fierce and athletic girls, artists, musicians, and singers. The babes I beget upon you are to beget babes in their turn. I shall demand perfect men and women out of my love-spendings. I shall expect them to interpenetrate with others, as I and you  
  
interpenetrate now."  
  
Lex tightened his jaw at the drone of his father's voice. Despite the arrogant tone that Lionel used, Lex believed that if the words were true for the rest of his women, it was not for his mother. The only reason he never raised a hand to his father was his respect for the memory of Lillian, who did adore the man.  
  
~~~  
  
She had been informed that Mr Luthor was not in a very good mood tonight. Chloe made sure her steps were tentative and light as she walked into the dark room that held proofs of Lex's obsession. When they needed to speak in private, he usually asked her to meet her in this room. Nobody but he and Chloe had a key that would open the door.  
  
The lights on the various pieces glowed eerily. She hugged her arms at the low temperature. Chloe looked around for Lex. When she spoke with him earlier, she told him about Lana's stalker's poetic tendencies. She had laughed it off. Now, alone in this darkness, she felt a slither of cold fear run up her spine. "Lex!" she called again.  
  
She walked down the clear path running across the room. A switch flipped on, and she saw Lex's figure at the other end bathed in yellow light.  
  
Lex smiled slowly in greeting, not moving to meet her. He watched her every movement-the way she brushed a lock of hair away from her face, the way her hips moved like honey, the way a grin spread on her face when she saw him smile. Lex etched her features in his mind. Crescent shadows were under each eye, formed by the play of light on her thick lashes. Her eyes sparkled brilliantly, putting to shame every light in the room. Her skin was bitten red by the cold, a natural blush that accented her cheekbones. He remained where he stood, taking all of her in.  
  
"She walks in beauty, like the night of cloudless climes and starry skies. And all that's best of dark and bright meet in her aspect and her eyes. Thus mellowed to that tender light which heaven to gaudy day denies," he whispered. Her eyebrow arched in silent question but he continued on, knowing she was too far to hear his words. "One shade the more, one ray the less, had half impaired the nameless grace-"  
  
Chloe held up a hand to stop him. "Don't insult me, Lex," she said sharply, although with a hint of teasing in her eyes.  
  
"I wasn't insulting you."  
  
"You were going to tell me about my raven tresses. Don't describe me through a poem that Lord Byron wrote with Lana Lang in mind."  
  
Lex chuckled and shook his head. "How did you even know? I wasn't even reciting it out loud."  
  
"I can read your lips, Lex," she informed him. "And I would never have thought you would stoop to romantic poems. You're too proper and intellectual to recite poetry produced by overzealous artists in a fit of passion."  
  
"Recollected in tranquility," he reminded her. "But you're right. I'm not a Byron man." He held up his hands, asking him to take them. Lex cleared his throat. "Come live with me," he told her, his voice caressing her almost physically, "and be my love, and we will all the pleasures prove that valleys, groves, hills and fields, woods or steepy mountain yields."  
  
Chloe grinned, knowing how much it took for Lex to recite Marlowe to her. She closed the distance between them and placed her hands on his palms. Chloe watched as his strong fingers closed over hers. "And we will sit upon the rocks seeing the shepherds feed their flocks, by shallow rivers to whose falls melodious birds sing madrigals."  
  
Despite the fact that it was the corniest, most hackneyed poem in the entire history of world literature, hearing the proud and elitist Lex Luthor recite it for her sent tingles all over her body. Chloe bit back her smile. Of course he would never think of a pastoral heaven. Lex was skyscrapers and a fast-paced lifestyle rolled into one impressive figure of a man. This moment though, she allowed herself to be carried away by images of the two of them, breathing in the fragrance of wildflowers that did not come from a bottle, and watching birds and cattle from a screen larger than the widest television.  
  
"And I," he promised huskily, "will make thee beds of roses." Chloe closed her eyes and saw him spreading her out on his bed, silk sheets covered by silkier petals. She grasped his shirt and pulled him down to her. She stopped his words with a lingering kiss.  
  
"You can stop now," she told him. As much as she enjoyed hearing him, she would rather let him preserve his dignity. Who knew how he would react when he someday remembered that he recited that poem to her? He would never be able to look her in the eye again.  
  
Lex shook his head when he pulled back. He cut to the end, "If these delights they mind may move, then live with me and by my love."  
  
Chloe blinked away the stupid moisture in her eyes. "I am not jealous that Lana has a poet after her," she told him to hide her flush. "What possessed you to do that?"  
  
"It just occurred to me," he said softly, "that I don't say it often enough."  
  
Chloe touched his cheek. "But you do, Lex. You tell me you love me every time you look at me."  
  
"You deserve the words too."  
  
She promised herself she would not push Lex when he was already making an effort, but Chloe could not resist. "Why?"  
  
"Because I realized how much my soul kept drawing back from emotions, hiding from what I truly felt by reciting pithy quotes from the most intellectual writers in history. All I succeeded was to keep what I think behind fancy lines. Now I thought I'd use fancy lines to show you how I really feel."  
  
Chloe latched on to that part. Lex was not the only one who was skittish around the genuine emotions. "You do not want to spend your life looking at cattle with me."  
  
"If that's what you want in a man, I'll buy a farm and be a farmer forever."  
  
She scrunched her nose at the thought. "If I wanted that, I would have gone after Clark." He chuckled. "All right, all right! But at the time, I really believed that I could turn him away from farm life. I would never survive if I had to live in Smallville for the rest of my life. And you won't either. We're made to be somewhere so much better than a cowtown, Lex."  
  
Lex cupped her face with both hands and pressed his lips on her forehead for the longest time. When her father moved them to Smallville, Lex knew that sooner or later, Chloe would leave that place. He had had fantasies of being the one to take his young friend away. "It's not too late to seek a newer world. Push off, and sitting well in order smite the sounding furrows; for my purpose holds to sail beyond the sunset and the baths of all western sands until I die."  
  
It was a man's poem of restlessness and grandeur, of never giving up even when all odds were against him. Chloe, proving that they were of one soul since the beginning, surprised him by continuing, "Though much is taken, much abides. And though we are not now that strength which in old days moved earth and heaven. That which we are, we are. One equal temper of heroic hearts." Lex nodded because she was right. He had never met anyone whose mind and heart worked on a level the same as his. "Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will, to strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield."  
  
When she finished, her words reverberated in his brain. He swept her up in his arms, his hands pushing her head towards him. Lex's pulse raced until he could see spots dancing at the dark back of his eyelids. He kissed her until he could not find his breath anymore.  
  
"I adore you," he gasped. He kissed his way to her ears, peppering her jaw with light brushes of his lips. "Please," he whispered into her ear, "tell me again how you feel about me."  
  
Chloe moaned as his kisses sent electric tingles shooting from her fingertips to her brain. She closed her eyes and reveled in the feeling of being cherished until she was senseless. His fingers made quick work of her blouse, gently pulling it off her shoulders. Her own hands rose to help him unclasp her bra. Chloe released a sigh when he cupped her breast and brought his own mouth to the pink areola. He licked to taste. Chloe's lips parted as she watched his mouth take her nipple into his own mouth. She stifled a scream when he started suckling on it. "Lex."  
  
"Tell me, Chloe," he murmured, sending shockwaves as the sound sent tremors through the sensitive nerve endings of her breast.  
  
They were standing right in the middle of the room, the dim lighting and the oddities he had accumulated the only witness to the affair that no one else knew. With the play of shadows on their bodies, their intertwined limbs could almost pass for the beginning of a sensual film-except they were saying words that would ill suit such movie.  
  
"The-the face of all the world." Chloe sucked in her breath when his hand moved to the bare skin of her stomach, caressing further downwards. "The face of all the world is changed, I think, when first I heard the footsteps of your soul."  
  
And when she met his eyes and saw the moisture that gathered in the blue depths, she knew that showing such vulnerability was worth it.  
  
"Lex." She met his unwavering gaze. "Will you make love to me?" It was then that he blinked. She could see the uncertainty in his eyes. "I'm not too young. I'm sure I want this, Lex. I know that I won't feel this way about anyone else."  
  
"Wouldn't you rather wait?" he asked her quietly. "You have your entire life ahead of you."  
  
"No," she answered with firm determination. "I would rather you be my first, Lex, not some guy in college who I won't care about half as much as I love you, because I'm sure no one will ever compare." He took a deep breath. Chloe grabbed his hand and laid his palm on her left breast, at the point where her heart beat. "If you love me, you'll-"  
  
Lex closed his eyes and allowed his heart to seek her lips. When their mouths fused in an open kiss, he picked her up and crossed the room, heading for the corridors and his bedroom. 


	28. Falling Redux

FALLING REDUX  
  
Lex looked left and right. When he saw Mr. Reynolds stride out of the Torch office together with Clark, Lex immediately pressed himself against the wall. The principal vanished down the hall with the glum farmboy, giving Lex the freedom to cross to the newspaper office.  
  
"Oh did you forget something, Mr. Reynolds?" Chloe swiveled in her chair, her legs flying as she propelled herself around. When she spotted Lex, the curiosity turned into open delight. She glanced at the door, and Lex automatically kicked it closed. She broke into a grin and ran forward, throwing her arms around his neck.  
  
"You seem happy."  
  
Chloe pulled his head down for a quick kiss and sighed. "Why wouldn't I be? For the first time since I handled this newspaper, I finally get some slack!"  
  
He grinned down at her, not loosening his arms around her waist as he pressed her body against his. The last week had been a heaven of shared kisses and tender caresses. And although they never had the chance to make love again, mostly due to his irritating self-control, Lex had never felt anything remotely close to how much they had grown closer and more comfortable with each other as they had the last week. "Does it have anything to do with me?"  
  
She met his grin with one of her own. "Not this time, no."  
  
"Oh really?" he asked, dipping her briefly before releasing her. "Would you like to tell me the reason you're so happy? If any other guy is getting you to smile, then I should know who it is so I can size up the competition."  
  
"Oh you never have to worry about competition, Lex." She pulled him by the hand towards the Wall of the Weird. "Look."  
  
"I've seen the Wall before, Chloe. And really, I've accepted the fact that I can never compete with the Wall for your affections."  
  
"Jerk," Chloe said lightly. "I mean, look at this article."  
  
Lex frowned as he leaned to read the small letters. "One of your athletes died of progeria?" he asked. "That's odd. There were no symptoms before the day he died?" Chloe's smile disappeared, feeling shallow for her reaction. Lex immediately noticed the change in her mood. He understood her so well. Often, her judgment was clouded by her excitement over sensational stories. When someone brings the more serious matter to her attention, she becomes guilty for not thinking about it sooner. "So you're investigating it. That's good. You can find out if there's anything meteor-related about the death. No one else can. And the people need to know if they're living with dangerous rocks."  
  
That relieved her somewhat. Chloe smiled and told him, "It's not just about my new theory. Well, yeah, it has to do with it, but. Well, do you remember the hard time Principal Kwan gave me about my apparent tabloid journalism?"  
  
He nodded. "I only wish I was there when you needed a shoulder to cry on."  
  
Chloe waved his words off. "Never mind the drama, Lex. I was just given the best encouragement I have ever been handed in this thankless job." She beamed brightly at him. Chloe sat on the desk. "Principal Reynolds is the best principal ever! Sure he has this closed campus policy that sucks, and he's very strict about Clark. But can you imagine how much I will accomplish with a principal who's not breathing down my neck about my theories?"  
  
Lex smiled lopsidedly. "About that. I might be able to come and visit you here during my lunch hour anymore."  
  
Chloe frowned. She had learned to enjoy the odd eleven to twelve o'clock meetings with Lex when they shared take-out that he brought with him because Clark and Pete's breaks were scheduled at twelve thirty. Therefore, she and Lex were able to spend the quiet hour eating together without anyone being the wiser. "The plant is going to keep you busy?"  
  
"Not exactly. Your principal and I have a history that although I am not entirely too clear on yet, gives me the feeling that I should stay as far away from the school as I could."  
  
Chloe frowned. "That's not fair. You have to be able to come here whenever you want."  
  
"I thought that you were fine with Mr. Reynolds' policy? You were only moments ago declaring how much you like the guy."  
  
"Not anymore if he's keeping my bald pirate away."  
  
Lex grinned. "I sincerely hope that's not a fantasy I have to borrow a costume to fulfill."  
  
"Of course not. It was an expression." Then she grinned at him. "And you won't need to borrow it, Lex. I'm sure you can buy your own."  
  
"Tell me you're not serious."  
  
Chloe laughed and shook her head. "As much as the thought intrigues me, I am much too new to this lifestyle to be reenacting role playing fantasies, Lex. We can talk about Mr. Reynolds' antagonism towards you some other time."  
  
"So what did you have in mind for tonight then? We're still on right?"  
  
"Oh yeah. You can't use the principal excuse on me to get out of our date," she told him grinning. "You so owe me one for everything I've had to put up with."  
  
"I didn't intend to get out of anything," he assured her. "It just took a long time to put it together for security reasons. You know, reserving an entire restaurant, creating a diversionary rumor that would get the tabloid paparazzi scampering to the other side of the country to catch me with a luscious brunette, making my dad think I'm off to a business meeting..." he trailed off.  
  
"Why, Lex, if I didn't know better I'd say you were ashamed of little old me." Lex started walking over to the door. Chloe watched with interest. "Where are you going?" she asked. The top of his shirt buttons were still undone and he had her lipstick smeared on his lips and across his jaw.  
  
Lex pulled the door open and stood there, in plain view of anyone who happened to pass by. Fortunately, since it was study period for most of the students, nobody passed by the Torch office. Clark and Pete could pass by any minute now though. This was the period they usually took to pass their articles. Hopefully, the principal still had his eye on Clark, rendering him unable to move for fear of reprisal.  
  
"Lex, what are you doing?" she hissed, when it became apparent that he was not going to move. Chloe jumped off the desk and ran towards him, pulling him inside the office and slamming the door shut. "You are so insane!"  
  
"I am merely showing you that I am willing to tell the entire world about us."  
  
"What about my reputation? You were the one harping on about my reputation being destroyed."  
  
"If you're starting to get insecure about all the secret, I won't be too much of a prude." Lex took her arm and pulled her toward him. "And I knew there wasn't anyone there. When Mr. Reynolds was principal at Excelsior, no student loitered in the corridors. If they needed to go to the bathroom, they held it in just so they would not be required to explain to the principal why they were out of the classrooms during class hours. I took the chance that he hadn't changed."  
  
"I could kill you," she sighed. "And I'll miss this. Oh I have an idea!"  
  
"What is it?"  
  
"You can woo Mr. Reynolds."  
  
"I think that you might need some more mature clothes soon, but all in all, you're still a prettier than Mr. Reynolds so no thank you."  
  
"Ass," she muttered with a very flattered grin. "I mean you have to get to Mr. Reynolds' good side. Oh! I read in his profile that he's very concerned with updating resources so that his students can be competitive with the best schools out there." Lex nodded. That seemed just about right. "And I'm sure he's seen the awful state of our technology here. You can donate something. My dad was talking about how LexCorp was buying an entirely new computer system for the plant. Maybe you can donate the old computers to the school. Your garbage is still the end of our rainbow."  
  
"Chloe," he started. The day after they discussed the upgrade of their system, the old computers were hauled to different charities and handed over to minor LuthorCorp branches. When he saw how excited she was at the idea, he decided that another eight hundred thousand dollars worth of new computers would not be remiss. "I think that's a good plan. I'll propose that to the principal later."  
  
Chloe filed away some articles into the steel cabinet. "And then everything can go back to normal and you can still visit me because you're not blacklisted anymore."  
  
"Are you sure you can make it tonight when you've got this big investigation going, sanctioned, no matter how indirectly, by the principal?" Lex could already see the rapt absorption in her eyes as she scanned through a piece of paper regarding the progeria casualty."  
  
Chloe blinked up at him and Lex suddenly imagined her as a middle-aged woman, with black-rimmed glasses over her eyes, still solving mysteries. He had never thought of himself as the supportive husband, but he thought that for her he would step back and wait by the sidelines. "I think I can manage it, Lex. Really."  
  
He nodded and kissed her cheek. "I'll see you then." 


	29. Who Cares About Your Lineage?

WHO CARES ABOUT YOUR LINEAGE?  
  
The strains of the musical wafted from the study. Lex made his way to the room where he had been informed his father was in. There was only one person that he needed to see, but his own comfort had to wait. He would not come to her disturbed and angry with his father. He pushed the door open, and the powerful music resonated on his skin.  
  
Before he could even speak, Lionel called, "Lex? Is that you?"  
  
How easy it would have been to strike out against the old man from behind. No one would even blame him for doing so. Lex had feared for his life. He had been desperate at the thought that he was going to die. There were so many other times when he would have welcomed the great release from being the son his father always found lacking. This was not one of those times though. Lex had so much to live for. He had someone to survive for. Along with the thought of taking some form of revenge came the memory of a soft touch on his shoulder. First, the hand that soothed him was his mother's. Briefly, it shifted into Pamela's. Then the hand that caressed his skin gave him a sublime pleasure he had never felt before. That was when he knew that the touch was Chloe's. He stilled at the doorway and answered, "Still alive and kickin, Dad. No thanks to you."  
  
People admired the grace with which he used the language, the sophisticated way he possessed words and brandished them as a weapon. What they did not know was that Lex Luthor had perfected his own form of verbal judo primarily because it was the only tool he could use against his father.  
  
"You're a survivor, son." Lex could swear that he could hear pride with his father's chuckle. "I knew she wasn't going to kill you."  
  
"Not for lack of trying." He tried to suppress the bitterness. When the reply rolled off his tongue he knew that he had failed. Lex walked into the room. He had to know the answer. Despite the fact that he did not trust his father in any way, Lionel was the single person who had the answer to his question.  
  
"I couldn't give in to her. You must know that."  
  
The younger man's jaw tightened when he took insult to his father's answer. He was the last person to preach about self-control when he himself had lost it a thousand times as a teenager. Being Lillian's only defense though, he had to retort, "Like you did all those years ago?"  
  
Lex was satisfied that his father took a moment to answer. "I loved you mother very deeply, Lex." Was it only because he knew how exactly it was to love that Lex remained unconvinced of his father's sincerity? "I was not a perfect husband. I strayed. If you've never been tempted, Lex, I'm sure you will be someday."  
  
Lionel awoke one of Lex's fears about being with Chloe. She alone was perfect. But a marriage with him would wear on her, would give her the sort of pain that she had never before experienced, perhaps would never experience if she ended up with Clark, when he eventually strayed. Right at that moment, he adored her more that he adored any other woman before. He would sooner have his arm cut of and diced than see Chloe hurting because of his own weakness. He knew that no matter how much he loved her, it was in his blood to stray. It may be unthinkable to him at the moment because they only just discovered each other. He could swear to heaven that he would never look at another woman, but what was his reassurance that he would not be tempted? Luthors were known, and now proven, to seek pleasure outside the marital bed.  
  
Lex moistened his lips. It was something that he had to answer to himself. And if he ever found that he was not strong enough to honor a promise, he would talk it over with Chloe, not with his father who was the root of all his insecurities regarding his ability to give his entire being to love. "We're not talking about me, Dad. We're talking about Rachel Dunleavy. Did she bear your illegitimate son or not?"  
  
The admission threatened to send him to his knees. Lex listened with dawning compassion as his father told him about the brother that he never knew. At first enraged that Lionel dared to sleep with another woman while Lillian Luthor struggled for her life, Lex's heart broke at the sight of Lionel's grief when the older man confessed about the boy's death before he even reached age one.  
  
Lex left his father in the study in search of some comfort. He had a family he never knew about, in all the years that he prayed for a brother or a sister, his father had another son who lived and died without his knowledge. Behind him, Lex heard the music swelling and reaching a crescendo that then cascaded marvelously.  
  
He needed to see her. Before he decided if he deserved a chance at happiness, that he could fight the unfaithfulness that coursed through his veins, he needed to see her. While the falling notes rushed away from his earshot, Lex's feet picked up speed. He strode towards the stairs and ran up the steps leading to his floor. He turned the corridor and walked, almost jogged the rest of the way to his bedroom. He had to change into something more casual before he saw her, something that did not remind him that he just left his father's entwined grief and deceit.  
  
He was about to open the door when he collided with a chuckling maid who was on her way out of his room.  
  
"Oh I beg your pardon sir!" came the maid's apology.  
  
Although he was in a hurry, Lex arched his eyebrow suspiciously. "Care to share what's so funny in there?"  
  
The mirth in the young woman's eyes was alive. "It was something Miss Chloe said."  
  
Lex stopped and stared straight into the brown eyes. "Miss Chloe's in there."  
  
A nod and a brief smile. "She's been calling over and over since you went missing, sir. We told her that she didn't have to worry because Mr Kent saved you. The next thing we knew, she was on our doorstep. She's reading."  
  
Lex acknowledged the information and turned the knob gently. She looked up at the sound. The transformation of the polite inquiry in her eyes when she thought he was the maid coming back was completed when she burst into a deep elation at the sight of him walking into the room. She was lying on her stomach in front of the fireplace, sifting through a glossy book.  
  
"You're home!" she gasped. Chloe dropped the book and extended her arms. Lex's legs ate up the distance so he could kneel in front of her and take her in his arms. He closed his eyes when she tightened her embrace. "I was so worried," she murmured into the skin just below his ear. He was reluctant to let her go when she started to pull away. When she established a good amount of distance between their bodies, she scrutinized his face and what she could see of his skin, running her fingers over a bruise on his eye.  
  
"I'm fine," he assured her. He released his breath when her gentle hands then traced the sore puncture on his neck where Rachel Dunleavy had plunged the syringe into him. His eyes fell to the book that she had been reading. Suddenly, whatever foul temper his father had caused in him evaporated. Lex sat back on the rug. He glanced at her in question. "Why are you reading a book of names?" He knew that he had not been a person good enough to deserve it if this was what he thought it was.  
  
Chloe shook her head. She placed herself between his legs and leaned back against his chest. "I was just looking at names, wondering what we should call our kids."  
  
"Is there any reason why you're doing this now?" he prodded gently.  
  
"If you're asking me if I'm pregnant, Lex, I'm not."  
  
He tamped down the disappointment and reminded himself of how young and beautiful she was, and how much of a tragedy it would be for her to carry his kid now. There were too many things he had to settle still. There was so much she had to do. She had a future to see and a career to establish. Those were her dreams, and he would be far worse than his father, who got a willing woman pregnant, if he took those away.  
  
"You're disappointed," he heard her say faintly.  
  
"I'm not," Lex assured her. "I'm not happy, but I'm not disappointed either. We've got all the time in the world." He spied a piece of paper with her handwriting lying beside the book. "Did you see anything viable?"  
  
Chloe hastily picked up the slip of paper and then settled back against him again. He wrapped his arms around her. "I was thinking that even though I have no doubt we will be rocking parents," she began, making Lex grin, "we shouldn't give them our names. They're going to have a hard enough time following our memorable footsteps. We shouldn't add to the pressure."  
  
"I agree. What if one of them wants to be a reporter? No one can equal your prowess."  
  
"I thought we could name one or two after Clark and Lana," she suggested. "They wouldn't have the pressure of exceeding insurmountable achievements." Lex chuckled. "That was a joke."  
  
"I don't know," he told her. "It sounds like a logical argument." He turned her in his arms and pressed his lips on hers, feeling the tremor that rushed through her. Lex pulled away and considered the glassy look in her eyes that had nothing to do with pleasure. "Have you been upset all the while you were waiting in here?"  
  
"I'm not upset."  
  
"Try lying again when I didn't just feel the evidence. Now what's wrong?" Chloe kept silent, pretending that he was seeing things and suspecting emotions where there were none. Lex shook his head. "You're not as animated as you usually are."  
  
She met his eyes steadily and sighed, knowing that there was no way she could evade telling him when he already suspected. After all, she went there to make sure he was all right, because his mere presence comforted her. Chloe moved to face him and knelt between his legs. Before she could tell him though, she wrapped her arms around his neck and rested her cheek on his shoulder. "I told Clark that mom left me," she admitted. "He was just being such an ass and I know I shouldn't have looked where he didn't want me to, but I honestly thought I was helping! And then he was in my face, telling me I should go find her." Her voice trailed off and was cut by a sniff.  
  
His fingers created soothing circles on her scalp. "You haven't said it aloud for years, have you?"  
  
Her grip on him tightened. "Not saying it was making me think it was less true."  
  
Before he could respond, there was a rapid knock on the door. Chloe hastily looked at the closed door. She quickly brushed away the tears from her eyes.  
  
"Lex," came Lionel's voice. Chloe gasped. She looked at Lex, eyes wide. Lex placed his finger to his lips in a gesture for silence. "Is someone in there with you? I thought I heard voices."  
  
"No one is here, dad," Lex replied.  
  
"Oh. Well the butler informed me that the Sullivan girl was here earlier. She must have left."  
  
Lex and Chloe did not move from their position by the fireplace. "Yeah. She must have wanted to interview me about the kidnapping. You know reporters and their pain in the ass stalking." He grunted when she jabbed her elbow into his stomach.  
  
"All right son," Lionel responded. I only wanted to make sure that you were fine. You found out something tonight that must be overwhelming for you."  
  
"It's fine, dad," Lex called out. "I just need to deal with this alone. I'll see you tomorrow." They heard footsteps fading down the corridor. Chloe released the long breath that she had been holding. Lex smirked at her. "You know he wouldn't have heard you if you kept breathing."  
  
Chloe swatted him on the arm. "I am so far from being a stalker I'm actually the stalkee!" she protested. She remembered Lionel's earlier words. "Would you like to share what is so overwhelming that Father of the Year over there had to check up on you?"  
  
Noticing that since his father's inopportune check-up, she had been moving away, Lex wrapped one free arm around her waist and drew her back against him. She giggled and sprawled on his chest and legs. "Dad told me about my brother."  
  
Chleo gasped. Clark had given her a name earlier that she didn't recognize. "Lucas Luthor." Lex frowned. "Rachel Dunleavy gave that name. Lucas Luthor."  
  
He nodded. "Dad said that Lucas died when he was still a baby. I don't believe him."  
  
Her lips formed an oh. Chloe cupped his cheek and searched his eyes. "Do you want me to find him, Lex? You can pay investigators to look for him, but no one has ever been as good and as quick as I am when it comes to research. Plus, I'm going to do it for free." His lips curved. "The fee wouldn't matter really. What's important if you let me do this is that I will be part of this Lex. I want to help you complete your family because you deserve it."  
  
Lex covered the hand on his cheek with his own. He brought her palm to his lips and pressed a long chaste kiss on it. "I just wish I had the ability to make your mom return. You deserve a family more than I do."  
  
The smile that broke on her face took his breath away. "Well maybe you can still give me that. Not now, with my mom. But someday you'll give me a family. Deal?"  
  
"I wish I could. You know that I would rather make you happy than do anything else in the world."  
  
"Lex," she said softly, "is there anything wrong?"  
  
He shook his head. "You know I'm the most arrogant, self-confident people in most circles."  
  
"I do know that."  
  
Lex grinned lopsidedly. "Not exactly the quick reassurance I was looking for," he told her. Chloe winked. "The thing is, I'm most insecure about one thing. That's my ability to be the guy you need. I've been thinking of that for a year. Maybe I should be younger, or funnier, or more responsible, or more equipped to protect you, or more loyal-"  
  
"Or not a Luthor?" she finished, raising her eyebrow. At the almost guilty look on his face, she sighed. "You think being a completely different person would make you the perfect husband for me? Well that's just moronic, imbecilic, brainless thing that I've ever heard."  
  
"Way to lay it on thick, Chloe."  
  
"I can't help it! You think if you were not you, I'd have a happy marriage or relationship or whatever-That's definitely stupid because how can I be happy with another person? I'm desperately in love with you."  
  
Lex's eyelashes lowered.  
  
"Since I was a kid I knew you were the perfect guy," she told him. "Why do you think I test drove you?"  
  
He grinned when a quick memory whispered to him.  
  
"Chloe, I really need to study," the bald boy complained. He was uncomfortable with the way the Sullivan kid fluttered her eyelashes when she invited him to play house with her.  
  
The little girl rolled her eyes. She clutched the baby dolls to her chest. "Monica and Jessica need to have a daddy."  
  
"They already have a mommy."  
  
Chloe shook her head, blonde hair escaping from the pins that Gabe had quickly clipped. Her daddy didn't know how to fix up the girl because he'd only been taking care of her by himself for twenty-seven days. "Silly. Babies need a mommy and a daddy," she explained. "And I'm a superagent mommy, so I need to go to work. So you can stay with them and then when you go to work I will stay with them. Come on, Lex. Play with me."  
  
Lex had glanced at the book of poetry in his hands and shrugged. "Fine. But only for an hour, okay?"  
  
Chloe had beamed at him. "Monica, Jessica, this is your daddy."  
  
"We're going to have to change those names too."  
  
Lex blinked away the pleasant images when he felt the young woman in his arms press her body against his. He smiled at the little girl who turned into a beautiful woman when he had not been looking. "You know what," he began. "I think I will be all right."  
  
"Really?"  
  
He nodded. "Looking at you now, feeling the way I do, I just know that this time I will be more than an hour at this."  
  
"How much time can you spare playing hubby?"  
  
"How does forever sound?"  
  
Her sight suddenly blurred with the intense joy that filled her. "I think I can work with that." 


	30. Saving Young Ryan

SAVING YOUNG RYAN  
  
Lex had been searching for number 66 the entire morning. He had looked everywhere. It was not in the platinum box where he kept all the Warrior Angels he reserved for reading. He could not lose that one. Frantically, Lex went through his drawers. He knew he should not have brought it home with him from boarding school. Valuable things tend to get lost in the LuthorCorp office building. When important documents disappeared into the shredder behind people's back, the least he could expect was that his well- loved comic book would vanish the same way. The prospect of boredom while waiting outside for his father to acknowledge his presence made him bring it. Now he'd lost it.  
  
He sighed. It was going to be hard to procure it. After Warrior Angel 66 hit the streets, all copies were grabbed by fans and collectors alike. That edition defined the legend that was Warrior Angel.  
  
The cloud over Lex's head was growing heavier by the minute. His feet dragged on the carpeted floor as he made his way to the lounge. Because it was still two hours before any kind of break, he was sure that it was going to be empty. He could eat something there while watching television.  
  
Lex settled down into the leather couch and flipped through the channels available to him. He settled on a rerun of old Donald Duck cartoons. He smirked at the antics of the original big butt. He grabbed the remote and turned up the volume.  
  
"Shhhh!" came the sharp hiss from the back of the couch.  
  
Lex almost toppled over when he realized that he wasn't alone. He peered over the back of the couch to find a mussed Chloe Sullivan flopped down on her chest, leafing through nothing else but his missing comic book. He gave her a mock glare and she grinned. "I should've known you'd be the thief."  
  
Chloe sat up and closed the comic book. "Oh come on, Lex. It's been so long since I saw Devilicus."  
  
"Still a fan?"  
  
"You know I love best the ones with the flaw in character that makes them waver between two sides. It always makes it more interesting."  
  
Lex hopped over the back of the couch and regarded his friend, who was rapidly turning into a very pretty girl. Definitely going to be a heartbreaker. "So you missed Devilicus so much you had to snatch him away from my stuff?" She nodded, smiling once again at the drawn picture of the character in her hands. "And you didn't miss me at all. That stings."  
  
"Of course I missed you, Lex!"  
  
"And you show that by hiding in here."  
  
She settled against him and he had no choice but to rest his arm around her shoulders so that it would not be crushed. "I'm sorry. But I knew sooner or later you were going to search out the most private part of the office. We were going to see each other here." She handed the comic book back to him. "Thanks for the loan."  
  
Lex took the book and leafed through the pages of the familiar story. "How did you find it?"  
  
"Well I can't believe he turned evil, although I don't blame him."  
  
Lex's eyebrows rose in surprise. He turned to look at her. "Almost every reader complained about that plot twist. They claim that Devilicus change had not been foreshadowed. According to them, this sudden desire he has to rule the guardian realm was baseless and unfounded."  
  
Chloe's eyes flared. "Are they crazy? Or did they not read carefully enough? Devilicus had every reason to feel that way about the guardian realm and about humans!"  
  
He focused on this young girl who felt so strongly about fictional characters. She must have seen in the story what he had. The backstory had been subtle, and the writers had merely glanced over it primarily because the series was Warrior Angel, not Devilicus. Yet here she was, able to focus on the smaller things that mattered. "Tell me why, Chloe."  
  
"That guardian they never gave a name to. Since the first issue they have drawn Devilicus looking at her. When Warrior Angel had a scene, she and Devilicus were right there talking to each other in the background. When he's in danger and they draw the guardian realm, she would be among the guardians looking down. She'd always be the most concerned."  
  
He was proud of the attention that she had given. "Well? They didn't even give her a name."  
  
"It's not always about names. From all the words they painted without letters, you have to see how much she meant to Devilicus. She was stabbed through the heart by the humans two issues ago. She died in 65 and the guardian realm did not take any revenge. And people say that Devilicus' change in 66 was baseless?"  
  
Lex grinned. His exact argument and he had to hear an eleven year old say it, when most of his classmates could not find that logic. They never looked beyond the story that was on the topmost layer of the boxes. It paid to give the same effort in analyzing the background as one did the main story. "What did you think about the last scene?"  
  
Lex opened the issue in his hands and showed her the full-page picture. It was of Devilicus sitting at the edge of a cliff, staring down at the sharp rocks at the bottom while Warrior Angel stood behind him several feet away, ready to leave.  
  
"Devilicus just managed to punish those humans who killed her. Why isn't there a trace of satisfaction in this drawing, Chloe? It's too dark and lonely."  
  
She shook his head. "Warrior Angel just told him that what Devilicus did bars any hope of them being able to continue their friendship, Lex. And aside from the fact that she's still dead, Devilicus will never get back one moment. He wasn't there with her when she died."  
  
~~  
  
Across the kitchen counter, Chloe's hand tightened over Lex's as he recounted the afternoon at the hospital. After Ryan's death, he had needed to unburden himself. For him, there was no other way than to drive to her home and hope that she would be there.  
  
"You could not have done anything, Lex. You were right about one thing. Sometimes, no matter how much you want to save someone, there's nothing you can do."  
  
He did say those words. When he told that to Clark, he had known that it was true. It happened to him with his mother, to Pamela, and now it happened to Ryan. Lex gripped Chloe's hand tightly because he knew he would prove himself wrong. No one was going to be taken away from him again. "I'm going to work so hard to make sure I never have to think those words again."  
  
"But they're true, Lex. Sometimes a person just has to go," she told him.  
  
"No!" He would surrender everything before this happens to him again. Especially not now when he had finally found out what real happiness was like. "I won't let you go."  
  
At his admission, she smiled. "Well I'm not going anywhere anytime soon. I'm not sick, Lex. Ryan was. So were your mom and Pamela." His gaze went to their entwined hands. "I'll be around no matter what."  
  
"I'm sorry," Lex sighed. He ran a hand over his head. "I don't know why I'm letting this get to me so much."  
  
"I'd be more worried if you were not affected by this, Lex."  
  
Again, a shuddering sigh. "I guess I just felt that with all of my resources, I should have been able to find a way to keep him alive."  
  
Chloe forced him to look into her eyes. "You're not a god."  
  
"At times like this I wish I were."  
  
She nodded in understanding. "Do you remember that aerodome that Warrior Angel had?"  
  
"His sanctuary. He used it to get away from all his problems."  
  
Chloe lifted their hands to her lips and brushed a kiss on his knuckles. "Sometimes I really wish I could give you that. I wish I could give you a place that would make you forget all the problems you have, a place that would protect you from the outside world."  
  
He held his breath, enraptured at the sight of her placing soft kisses on his hand. "You do." He felt her smile against the back of his hand. "You always have."  
  
Finally, she lowered their entwined hands on the counter and showed him how happy his words made her. Lex looked at her intently, memorizing each line of her face. This was life. And everything he told her was true. She was his sanity. He would hold on to her and never let go.  
  
There was the sound of a clearing throat coming from the doorway. Swiftly, she disengaged her fingers from his and she snatched her hand away. Lex's head turned to see Gabe Sullivan watching them. "Gabe."  
  
"Dad!" Chloe exclaimed. "Lex was just here looking for you. Well now that you're here, I won't be boring Lex with my high school babble." She quickly escaped from the kitchen.  
  
Two men watched as Chloe slipped out of the door. Gabe turned questioning eyes at Lex. "You and Chloe looked very serious there. Is there anything I should know about?"  
  
"We were chatting," Lex answered easily.  
  
"Holding hands."  
  
"We've always been close."  
  
"Unfortunately for me, I know that," Gabe said quietly. "That's why I can't jump into conclusions that my head is screaming at me to jump. So let's say that my daughter really was giving you high school babble. Do you know why she was doing that?"  
  
"Why?" Lex responded carefully.  
  
"Because she's a high school student, Lex."  
  
"You have nothing to worry about." Lex knew there was a good possibility that he would be struck by lightning at that lie.  
  
"It's good that we understand each other. I've always thought of you as more than just my boss, Lex. I've always thought of you as a son. Don't make me regret the trust I've given you."  
  
"There's nothing to worry about, Gabe. Your daughter isn't getting hurt. I assure you." 


	31. His Heart Proves Dichotic

HIS HEART PROVES DICHOTIC  
  
"I would like to go on record and say that I don't like this idea," Lex Luthor grumbled.  
  
Chloe grabbed the lapels of his black jacket and pulled the edges closer together. "You mentioned that," she replied, grinning. She stepped back and admired her handiwork. Her boyfriend looked suave in his clean black look. The black let up only with the monochrome gray shirt that he wore underneath. "Something's missing," she murmured. Her eyebrows furrowed as she nibbled on her lower lip. When the idea hit her, she brightened. Chloe turned swiftly around and jogged to the dresser.  
  
"Now what? You already sprayed perfume on me." Lex sighed as Chloe rifled through his drawer. "Have I mentioned that I really hate this?"  
  
"You're acting like a child, Lex," she said in a singsong. "Eureka!" She turned back around and walked over to him waving a shiny black pair of eyeglasses.  
  
"No," Lex declared. "You are not pimping me."  
  
Chloe gasped playfully. "Who's pimping who? I just want to make sure that you look your best when you drop off those golf clubs."  
  
Lex placed his hands on both sides of her waist and drew her close. "You know what you're trying to do, Chloe. Why can't you just let it go?"  
  
Chloe ran her hand smoothly over his head. "Well I know my dad certainly won't."  
  
"Gabe didn't see anything."  
  
She scoffed. "Right. That's why he suddenly made a 360-degree turn. He went from being a laidback, cool father to a sentinel."  
  
"All right," Lex gave in. "Say that he does suspect." Chloe glared at him, so he revised. "Knows. Say that he knows. Your bright solution is to get the two of us hooked up with other people."  
  
"That's the only way we can allay his suspicions," Chloe explained.  
  
"And it never occurred to you that maybe we can just come clean." Her face morphed into one of absolute horror. "It's not that horrible being involved with me, is it, Chloe?"  
  
"Well it is if my dad knows!"  
  
"Your dad is a fair man."  
  
"Who will string your most important parts and throw them in the boiling vats of crap in your own factory."  
  
Lex shook his head. "You're overreacting. And I hate the idea of this."  
  
"It's only for a while, Lex. And it's not like you're going to fall in love with the woman from the charity auction. Although," Chloe quickly amended, "if you do I want you to know that you are in under no obligation to me. I know that those women are gorgeous, sophisticated and totally in the same sphe-"  
  
Lex muffled the rest of her words with a mind-blowing kiss meant to take her breath long enough so she would shut up for a while. "I'm not going to go falling in love with a woman I meet for thirty seconds when I've loved you for years, Chloe."  
  
"See, if you're that close-minded, you really won't."  
  
"Good." His hands wandered to the bottom of her patterned brown blouse. "Is this what you're wearing to school today?"  
  
"Uhuh," she answered, feeling his warm skin on hers. "Right after we get Lana settled in."  
  
"Isn't this a bit exposing?"  
  
"I've always worn sexy outfits, Lex. You've never had a problem with them before."  
  
"Well I've never seen you in them when you're planning to attract someone to detract your dad's suspicions. When you have that kind of garbage in mind, I don't trust you. And I trust the guys in your school even less."  
  
Chloe gave him a lopsided smile, which seemed dimmer than the one he saw earlier. She bent down to drop a kiss on his forehead. "I love you," she said quickly, before maneuvering out of his arms and rushing out the door.  
  
~~  
  
Chloe checked her phone and saw that she had an unread message. She was still worried about Lex. After hearing the news from the people outside, she tried to call him over and over but his phone was unavailable. Before she picked up the tray, she clicked on the read button on the keypad.  
  
So he found someone.  
  
All she could wonder about was how badly he hurt himself. Spraying bits of glass could do a lot of damage.  
  
But Lex had finally, no matter how reluctant he was, heeded her advise and was following the plan. It was her turn to be as dedicated.  
  
"So. Perfect attendance, straight A's, and a class load that would make Einstein crack. You know what-forget the interview. Let's just call Ripley's!" she said brightly as she sat down with Ian at the table."  
  
"It's kind of intense, huh?"  
  
Chloe smiled and replied something that she knew was appropriate, but her vision immediately filled with images of Lex in the suit that she prepared for him, wearing those shiny black shades, furious under the sun as he slammed a golf club over and over, ramming the meter maid's car. The last word out of her mouth was apt though, "hot."  
  
They continued their conversation, but Chloe was pretty sure she was blowing it. It was never a good idea to try to attract someone when you're preoccupied about a better, sexier man. So when Ian mentioned a deadline, Chloe immediately stood. That was when she noticed the Clark was calling her name.  
  
On the other side of town, Lex walked into the Anger Management classroom. He really needed this class if he was going to survive the evening knowing that Chloe was socializing with a geek cum LuthorCorp scholarship applicant. His eyes sought one dark head. It was better to get this over with quickly so that he could go back to where he really wanted to be.  
  
Lex approached the doctor and managed to look surprised. "Dr. Bryce?" The tight smile that the doctor gave him told him for certain what kind of woman she was. He hoped she wouldn't be too close-minded. Lex forced amusement in his voice. "I like your nametag."  
  
His pleasantness paid off. Soon, Helen Bryce was chuckling along with him. It was not a bad sound, but he preferred Chloe's giggle. "I dropkicked an orderly."  
  
Lex kept himself from rolling his eyes. He needed her. "Want to get together after class?" Say no.  
  
"No."  
  
But then he thought about Chloe, nibbling her lower lip, worried about her father's reaction to the truth. He pressed, "You got a thing about dating classmates?"  
  
The things he would do for a girl. But he knew this was happening for a long time.  
  
And he never wanted to stop it.  
  
~~  
  
Lex rushed after Helen Bryce. If Chloe was willing to go through the lengths that she did to throw people off, then it must mean something to her that he won't even try to understand. He knew what a kiss meant to Chloe. He was willing to come close.  
  
He saw Helen Bryce in her figureless lab coat, standing in front of the nurse's station. She was really quite pretty, he recognized. And if he were not already too deeply involved with someone, he would consider dating her.  
  
"Metropolis General. I was drunk, puking my guts out in the ER. You were the first year med student assigned to sober me up." To his surprise, it was actually pleasant to see her now. At least he got to see two people in completely different parts of his life. "You witnessed my, uh, self- destructive phase." It was a part of his life that he was happy to leave behind. He would never have considered touching Chloe had he not completely freed himself from that. Maybe Chloe was right. Maybe this woman could help.  
  
"I'm off in ten minutes," she began, and Lex knew that he had won.  
  
~~  
  
Chloe stared at the computer screen, making faces of distaste. She could not believe she got desperate enough to kiss someone else. Lex was right. It was time that they came clean, at least to her father. Her dad loved her and Lex a lot and she doubted that he would be mad. Maybe he would be uneasy with the idea at first. But Gabe Sullivan would understand how they fell in love. If anyone knew just how alike Chloe and Lex were, it was her dad.  
  
Her phone began to ring. Thinking that it was Lex, she quickly glanced at it. When she saw that it wasn't her boyfriend, Chloe sighed in exasperation. She turned off her cellphone. She did not need Clark telling her that she was stupid and wrong because she already told herself that a thousand times.  
  
The door opened behind her.  
  
~~  
  
Lex picked up his phone and dialed Chloe's number again. He released a deep breath when he got the same unreachable message. He looked up at Helen, sitting across from him, and smiled. "Sorry."  
  
"I have to admit, Lex, that I've never been out on a date when the guy found a phone more interesting than I was."  
  
"Helen-"  
  
"I know," she chuckled. "It's not a date. If you didn't intrigue me so much, I wouldn't even have come." Helen sat back in her seat and leafed through the menu. "So where is this girl you wanted me to meet?"  
  
"That's what I'm trying to find out." Lex dialed once again and got the same message. "She was supposed to meet us here half an hour ago." Frustrated, Lex dialed Gabe's number instead. Although he knew that Gabe was still cautious around him after what he had seen, Lex had no other choice. Better get it over with rather than worry about why his girlfriend was late. Whenever he hasn't heard her voice for more than six hours, Lex tended to fear the worst-and for good reason.  
  
"Gabe, where are you?" Lex massaged the bridge of his nose. "Not again. How is she?" He glanced quickly at Helen. "Could you tell her I'll be right there?" Lex heard the coldness that crept in the older man's voice. "I'll be bringing my girlfriend along if you don't mind."  
  
Helen's eyebrow arched, and she smirked. "Something you want to tell me?" the doctor inquired when he hung up the phone.  
  
"Chloe wanted to be the one to explain. Right now, I have to check on her. She's having a head wound cleaned at the hospital. Her father said it was minor, but I hope you won't mind if we cut the dinner short. Why don't I tell you all about it on the way over?"  
  
To his surprise, Helen merely nodded and took her own phone from her bag. "You can talk in the car. Let me see if I can find out something about her from the nurses."  
  
"Thanks." Lex walked ahead of her. 


	32. Skinwalkers Are Long Gone

SKINWALKERS ARE LONG GONE  
  
"According to the legend, a man came from the stars and fell in love a woman of the common people," Chloe related with a smile. She was in Dr. Helen Bryce's office where she scheduled to spend her time in order to get to know the woman who was doing her and Lex the biggest favor. "And the man from the stars never thought of himself as a being apart from them anymore."  
  
"That sounds familiar," the brunette doctor replied. "Daughter of a working class man and her father's employer. Talk about stars and the common folk."  
  
"Right." Chloe grinned. "As much as I adore Lex Luthor, I would hardly say that he doesn't hold himself apart from the rest of Smallville."  
  
Helen considered that and slowly nodded. "I understand. Look at me. I'm helping the two of you pull this amazing act and whenever he walks into a room, he would hardly acknowledge my presence."  
  
The blonde bit her lip and closed her hand over Helen's. "Oh I'm so sorry. I'm going to talk to him. You know, he should be really grateful. He should be kissing your ass." Helen's eyes gleamed and Chloe immediately said, "Figuratively."  
  
"So," Helen started, "speaking of the guy, where is he? I can't believe that he's actually spending this long a time away from you after that hassle last week."  
  
"What hassle?" Chloe asked innocently. "It was nothing but a mutant freak accident."  
  
"That sent you to the hospital."  
  
"For not more than thirty minutes. And it wasn't even needed. Clark just freaked out and took Lana and me. All I got was an abrasion and a few bruises in the arms where he grabbed me. No big deal."  
  
"You wouldn't think so if you were with Lex on the ride over."  
  
"He overreacts," Chloe assured Helen. "Anyway, I think he's still at the castle. With his dad. Meaning if and when he shows up, he's not going to be in the best mood."  
  
Helen nodded. "Every girl has to deal with the problems of her guy, Chloe. Remember, you and Lex aren't that different from other couples. Aside from the fact that I have to pretend to be dating him to throw your father off, that is. And even that has been done before."  
  
The phone on Helen's desk rang. "Is that Lex?" Chloe asked, peering at the caller ID. "He was supposed to pick me up ten minutes ago. Maybe he's canceling." She waited for Helen to give her permission before hitting the speaker button. "Hey!"  
  
"Chlo, I'm glad you're still there."  
  
"Hi Lex. Say hi to Dr. Bryce, the savioress, with blessing from my 800 SAT Verbal score." Lex's grunt of acknowledgment resounded, and Chloe smiled at Helen's eye roll. "Bad day?"  
  
"My dad just offered me a partnership with one of his pet projects."  
  
"Isn't that kind of good? He's trying to bridge the gap the past few months brought you."  
  
"Chloe, we've not been the kind of family other people might think for the past twenty years. I don't know why we should start now. Or even how the heck he thinks we can fix things with a business deal."  
  
"Maybe that's just his way of saying sorry," Chloe offered optimistically. Her brows furrowed when she heard the words that came out of her mouth. "Who am I kidding?" She sighed. Chloe looked at Helen. "May I?"  
  
Helen nodded and picked up some of the paperwork that she needed to catch up on. Chloe picked up the handset and continued her conversation with Lex in a semi-private way. "I heard the click. So Helen can't hear me now?" Lex inquired.  
  
"That's right. But she can hear me, so don't be too naughty." Her smile widened. "You want me to come over?"  
  
"Nah. It's too smelly here with my dad around. But I really do miss you. How's your head?"  
  
Chloe ignored the last question because Lex knew very well that she had completely healed two days ago. "I miss you too. And if you don't want me to come to you, then you better find a way to come to me, Lex."  
  
Chloe became self-conscious when Helen looked up at her comment. She turned her back at the doctor and held the mouthpiece closer to her lips.  
  
"I'm still going over some documents regarding the cave that my dad just purchased. I refuse to believe his plans for that are so."  
  
"Small? Not ambitious?"  
  
"Yeah. I know my father well enough to be certain that he doesn't start businesses that would yield a pittance."  
  
"Uhmm."  
  
"Sorry," he sighed into the phone. "Look at me, making a seventeen-year- old's ears bleed with problems reserved for oldies like me."  
  
"Oh, you know, Lex, there are so many things wrong with that statement. Number one, my intellectual capacity is so much more mature than my actual age. Number two, you're so not old. Number three, if you can't unload on me, then what use do I have? It's what girlfriends are for."  
  
She heard Lex snicker. "Point number one, I have noted and I very much appreciate. You know I won't be able to survive if I didn't admire you in all aspects. For the second one, I think that's a matter of opinion."  
  
She interrupted him. "Do you actually want me to rethink the brilliance of our involvement, old man?"  
  
"Touché." Lex found that he couldn't loosen his muscles enough to stop smiling. "And point three, I have so many answers to that that I will reserve for the time when you're not inside a room with Dr. Bryce."  
  
"And when will that be?"  
  
"Let me see." Lex picked up his calendar and flipped through the dates. "If I let myself be guided by the schedule my assistant prepares for me, then that would be in three and a half weeks, for thirty minutes."  
  
"Great. She never marked a slot for your secret girlfriend."  
  
"Did I ever share with you the concept of the word secret, Chlo?" he asked, pleased with her disappointment at the prospect of not seeing him for a while. "Lucky for you, I never did allow pen and paper to rule my life. How soon can you be home?"  
  
Chloe glanced at Helen, who arched an eyebrow and wiggled her fingers to show her that she can leave anytime she wanted. Chloe clutched the phone closer to her ear. "Thirty minutes if I start walking now."  
  
"Where's your car?"  
  
"That car has celebrated more birthdays than I have."  
  
"My dad's in one of the offices driving Martha crazy. Your dad's in the plant. Clark, Pete and Lana are involved in some extra credit conservation projects right?"  
  
"That's right," Chloe confirmed. "We're all clear."  
  
"Meet me at the back entrance of the hospital in ten. I'll even bring the car without a vanity plate just to be sure."  
  
"You have one of those?" Chloe gasped.  
  
"Stuff the snark and get your nosy butt out there in ten minutes. I'll see you then," he ended gruffly.  
  
"I love you too," she grinned. 


	33. Your Visage is Etched in My Memory

YOUR VISAGE IS ETCHED IN MY MEMORY  
  
He should be guilty. For the last few days, he had been giving a huge bulk of the responsibility for LexCorp to Gabe Sullivan. Nobody doubted his decision. At the factory, all the employees believed that Lex had been entrusting the work to Gabe because he was a senior employee and because he was a damn good manager. But Lex knew the real reason why he had been making Gabe unavailable. Gabe had been sleeping in the office for several days. Just yesterday afternoon, the man had been sent to Metropolis on an urgent check up with one of their suppliers. Admittedly, these were concerns that could have waited until Lex could attend to them himself. In fact, he had been attending to these even when he was still in LuthorCorp.  
  
But the cause of Gabe Sullivan's overtime hours this week was lying on his bed right now, silk sheets covering her from the small of her back down to her toes. Lex appreciated the wonderful glow of morning sunlight on the bare skin of her back. He touched her shoulder gently and brushed a kiss on her nape.  
  
Lex hated waking her up. He always feels something beautiful whenever he looks at her sleep. It was almost as if for that long moment he was as clean as she always seemed to be. But he had to wake her now. Morning had broken with a burst of sun that confirmed that their private time had ended. It was no longer night, when they could hold each other in the dark, and drown in each other's scent and sound.  
  
The rings under her eyes told him that he should give her an hour more, perhaps two. They had stayed up late last night when Chloe had a heavy heart. He found out that Helen, whom Chloe had grown so close to since their first meeting, was not who she pretended to be. Looking at the pictures that now sat on the nightstand, Lex felt anger. Chloe, on the other hand, felt betrayal. He could understand what she felt. At five, her mother left her. The past weeks bonded Chloe to Helen, who at twenty-six, may have been the only woman other than Martha Kent that Chloe saw a mother, or at least an older sister, in. Helen would probably be pissed if she knew the reference but after what he found out, he really did not care what Dr. Bryce thought.  
  
He spent the night subtly comforting Chloe, who never admitted that she was deeply hurt by Helen's duplicity. But that was Chloe. She would tell you that she had not been affected but her eyes would scream otherwise.  
  
He watched as her eyelashes began to flutter. Lex met the reluctantly opening eyes with a soft smile. "Feeling better?"  
  
She groaned, but still reached up to pull him down for a kiss. "Not really. But I have to get up anyway right?"  
  
"You have Hero-Defrocking 101 with Ms. Bisery. You know how much you adore that subject?"  
  
"I do not," she answered, chuckling. Chloe appreciated how he made an effort to make her laugh. "It's an insult to what I've previously been taught."  
  
"Not everyone is the way you believe him to be, Chloe. When you learn to accept that, you won't set yourself up for too harsh a disappointment."  
  
She shook her head, her eyes clouding. "I refuse to live my life distrusting every person that I meet."  
  
"Yet you're surrounded with evidence to the contrary. You and I both know that Clark has a secret that he won't share. Underneath the veneer of jollity that is Pete Ross is a boy with a considerable loathing for all things Luthor. When the entire school pretty much believed Whitney Fordman was nothing but a heartthrob athlete, he proved you wrong by actually having the guts to enlist," Lex enumerated. "And now Helen."  
  
"They can have a thousand secrets for all I care," Chloe answered. "I know someone who will never hide anything from me. That's why I know I can put my faith on one person."  
  
"Your dad," Lex stated.  
  
"Even parents are allowed to hide things. I meant you, Lex."  
  
Lex's eyebrows furrowed, and he looked as if he were reading her. Slowly, he nodded. "That's right."  
  
"Can I hold on to that?"  
  
He closed his hand around hers on top of the blanket. "You know you can." Lex pulled at the hand in his. "Now come on. We have to haul you to the shower fast. You don't want to be late."  
  
She shot up from the bed. "It's a thirty minute walk from here!"  
  
"Relax. I'll drive you."  
  
"You're dropping me off at a time when students are actually arriving, and we'd be in full sight. You're a regular daredevil, aren't you?" His eyes gleaned, and she remembered that the decision not to be open about the relationship was now only hers. "Well, I'm not." At his crestfallen look, she gave him an adorable smile. "You have something to take care of for us. I'd rather you get it over with as soon as possible. All right?"  
  
~~  
  
Lex sat in his study, his thoughts far away, filled with thoughts of his father, of Chloe, of the mess that he and Chloe entered when they involved themselves with Helen Bryce. He did not know how to approach the matter at hand. But he promised Chloe he would, and he will. He was used to people and their acts. Maybe he allowed himself to lose some of his defense instincts since beginning this relationship with Chloe. He did not need them with her. It was a wrong move on his part. It seemed that he needed them now more than ever, if he were going to protect both of them from people like the good doctor.  
  
The door open, and Lex shifted his focus to the brunette who stepped in with that lopsided smile and dry wit.  
  
"Sorry I'm late. I had a patient go into cardiac arrest and saying, 'Sorry, I have a date' might have come off as slightly insensitive." Lex fixed his cold stare at her. This was a woman who Chloe spent time with, laughed with, invested trust in. "The patient's fine now. Thanks for asking." It was all he could do not to spring from the table and wrap his fingers around her smooth neck. He had too much to live for. So he remained where he was.  
  
It was time to get this over with. "You told me you never met my father." He slid the pictures that made Chloe shake her head in denial last night.  
  
"Who took these photographs?" He really did not see how that made a difference, but he still answered. "You had me followed?"  
  
She was defensive. If there was anything Lex hated, it was a woman who was too overcome with what she felt that she could not manage a logical and calm answer. "Who are you?"  
  
Someone who would not let a money-grabbing stranger hurt the person he cared most about. Someone who made a mistake trusting his happiness with Chloe to a woman he did not even know. There was one lesson he took from his father. That was to never trust anyone else. Lex opened his mouth to reply when he saw one of the newest house helps wiping the railing right outside his study, surreptitiously listening to every word exchanged. He said instead, "Someone who's been burned by the opposite sex more times than he cares to admit. So tell me. Why does a Harvard-educated physician, a woman of supposed integrity, accept a six-figure sum to spy on a man she claims to have feelings for?"  
  
Helen looked at him puzzled and angry at the same time. "First of all, I don't recall anything of the sort. And second of all, if you think I'm going to put up with your pathetic paranoid attempts art invading my privacy, you're even more arrogant than everyone said you were." She stepped very close to him and hissed, "You know what, I pity a girl like Chloe being stuck with a guy like you." She turned around and stormed out.  
  
~~  
  
Chloe leaned back her head on the seat of the plush car. They were parked outside the hospital. Try as she might, she could not think of anything else to do. If Lex were right and Lionel was having him followed, then it was most likely that Lionel suspected something. She could not risk the chance that it was her relationship with Lex that Lionel was observing.  
  
She could not believe that this was actually happening. It was one thing to have the pretension under control. Then she could put a stop to it if she could not handle it anymore. It was another thing if they were being forced to do it because of a threat. And Lionel Luthor was a threat.  
  
For the hundredth time, she blamed herself for not being brave enough to just face up to the reality that she was involved with Lex-Smallville and its opinions be damned.  
  
Now she had to watch the man she loved pretend to feel for a stranger what he whispered to her in the dark. Even more than before, she felt like the mistress. Sure, she teased him about the word when they could not admit their friendship. But now, when she was certain that he was hers, it stung with wordless pain to accept that she had to be content with stolen moments.  
  
His hand around hers was warm. It always was.  
  
"Are you okay?" She nodded. "You don't have to come with me."  
  
Chloe smiled, but her eyes remained closed. "Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea how much worse it would be in my imagination?"  
  
She felt his lips on her temple, where they remained for thirty endless seconds. "You've talked to her," he stated. Still, she nodded in answer. "I love you so much."  
  
"I know that."  
  
"It doesn't make a difference, does it?"  
  
"I'll be watching my nightmare unfold," Chloe admitted.  
  
He took a deep breath. "Open your eyes." She found herself staring into the blue depths of his. He held her gaze, so that he would be sure that she heard every word. "Every word that passes through my lips later, Chloe, are meant for you. Not for her. What I'll do with Helen, I'm doing for us."  
  
"I know that," she said lightly. "I got you into this mess."  
  
Lex shook his head. "Let's forget the forced levity for a minute, Chloe. I know you're scared. You don't have to be." He pressed a kiss on her parted lips. "You'll be the first person to hear this. You're the one this is meant for. When my mother died, I began to build a wall around my heart. You know that, Chloe. You were with me the entire time. Every year after that wall grew taller and more fortified until eventually it became impenetrable. I can't count anymore how many people tried breaking it. But there was one girl who effortlessly stepped past it and chipped that thing block by block."  
  
"You don't-"  
  
"You, Chloe, beyond anything else in my life, are the reason why I will never become my father." 


	34. Insurgence of Feelings

INSURGENCE OF FEELINGS  
  
Her face was turned towards the desk. Lex could see her eyes, and even though her gaze was fixed, he was certain that he was not seeing the small devices scattered on the table.  
  
Chloe was pale, and her eyes were moist. The skin around her lips was tight. He did not know if she was going to cry or scream. Really, he did not know what to feel himself.  
  
Lex said her name again.  
  
Her gaze remained focused on a point past the cameras and audio pins lying mockingly on the hardwood.  
  
He knew what she was thinking. All the times they were together here in his office, in his bedroom, the time in the kitchen when they thought they were alone, those long afternoons in his bathtub.  
  
They were all caught on tape somewhere, pastime to someone who was vile enough to plant the bugs in his home. He had promised that she would always be safe in his house. She was attacked here twice, both times by invisible menaces, both times almost killed her.  
  
She was sitting in one of the armchairs now. Nobody tried to suffocate her with a pillow. Nobody pushed her out of the window. But this time he knew the effect was worse than any physical blow.  
  
Chloe was pale. She was not trembling. Her eyes were vacant. She did not seem to hear him.  
  
Lex walked over and stopped in front of her. He said her name again. She did not look up. So instead he knelt in front of her and whispered her name.  
  
It was the first time he saw her blink since she had stepped in. Her gaze remained fixed, but now he saw a subtle movement of her lashes.  
  
Her name.  
  
He knew who did this. Only one person had access to the house. Compounded with the evidence regarding the hundred fifty million dollar deal, Lex was certain about the culprit.  
  
His blood was ice. It froze every time he thought of his father watching Chloe on screen, her white skin bared to his eyes, because until now he did not believe that his father was completely blind. He had moments with Chloe in every room of this house that they thought were only theirs. They were precious because they were alone. He was lax to have allowed Lionel to touch Chloe like this.  
  
She knew the implications of those devices. He knew she knew. He helped her to the bathroom when she threw up after seeing them.  
  
Now she was trembling. Inside he trembled too. He had whispered so many things to her. He had believed they were for her ears only. Chloe had told him she loved him so many times. She had given him all the reasons why. She had listed everything there was about him to love.  
  
His father heard all that.  
  
He had put her in danger by every touch and every kiss.  
  
Lex took a deep breath and looked up at her. He picked up her cold hand and kissed her knuckles. He was confident that she knew he was apologizing.  
  
He pushed himself closer to her. He touched her cheek and she flinched.  
  
He swallowed deeply. "I'm sorry." Lex leaned close to kiss her cheek.  
  
Chloe rested her hands on his chest and firmly pushed him away. She spoke her first words since she arrived. "I can't," she whispered. "I'm disgusted. I feel disgusting."  
  
"You're not," he answered, his voice held a hard edge.  
  
"I don't think I'll ever see this place the same way, Lex."  
  
"We'll wash it off. I'll make sure the place is clean."  
  
Chloe stood up, her movements stiff. "Do that. I have to go. I'm going home to take a bath. I'm filthy," she told him, discounting the fact that her hair was still wet from her shower before she came there.  
  
"You have clothes here. You can-" he begun, before he caught himself.  
  
Chloe's steps towards the door were hurried.  
  
"I'll take you home." He saw her shake her head and move faster towards the exit. When it was apparent that she did not welcome his offer, Lex followed her out the door and watched her head down the corridor. "I'm sorry," he repeated.  
  
Chloe vanished down the hall. 


	35. While Everyone Suspects You

WHILE EVERYONE SUSPECTS YOU  
  
Creases and lines ran through his hand. He wondered what they meant. People say, after all, that your destiny is written on your palm. You only need to look closely and read the signs. Maybe if he read a series of lines, combined angles and focused on some, he would see her name there.  
  
Or maybe not.  
  
And he would read 'killer' instead.  
  
A lot of people seemed to believe in that, despite his knowledge of his own innocence. But then again, his blood ran a Luthor tint. He was guilty. He was guilty the moment he was conceived. And right about that time, Lex did not care that everyone believed he shot his father. Hell, he did not even give a shit that Clark had admitted that he did not have complete faith that Lex did not do it. To Lex, even if he himself believed that he was guilty, it did not matter. What hurt the most was that Chloe was probably out there, thinking that she let a cold-blooded bastard touch her.  
  
That was what stuck in his craw the most.  
  
Because right now there was no way he could defend himself. He did not have proof that he did not shoot his father. No one in Metropolis saw him in the time that he used as his alibi. He had been in Smallville a couple of hours before his father was shot. He could not even claim a waiter or a neighbor as his alibi. He had stayed parked out in the fields, looking up at the sky, trying to discern a message from the stars. Then, he had only been concerned about how he would approach Chloe after he miserably failed to protect him in his own house. Even if he had the evidence that would completely vindicate him, he could not bring them to her. She had not been to see him-she had not allowed him to see her-since the night she walked out of his study, out of his life it seemed.  
  
Lex traced the lines of his palm with a cold finger. He really needed to have the heating in this room fixed. He'd had the job postponed because he was delighted about the way Chloe shivered whenever he laid her on his cold desk. It made him feel warmer to know that he could warm her up. If he remembered correctly, this was the fate line, the other the love line. He had heard someone say that this indicated how early in life one would get married. Well, that did not count anymore. He'd been married once, to a meteor mutant. That was not the love indicated, or maybe he was just fated for disaster.  
  
Business associates in Metropolis, a few years ago, commented that he was just like his father. Lex knew they believed it would be a compliment. He wondered just how much like his father he was. What if, like Lionel, he had countless women but only one true love? And that one true love, like Lillian, would only be given for a short time. It was heartless if his time with Chloe had run out.  
  
What scared him the most was that had it not been for her, Lex was certain that after his discussion with his father, he would have shot Lionel.  
  
There was a storm raging outside. Lex had been waiting in the study while lightning lit the room at irregular intervals.  
  
It had been one of their usual father and son talks. Their favorite topics were discussed-money, treason, vengeance. He had had to bring up something else, something that gutted him more than losing his business did. His father's defense belittled the damage that Lex had been certain would ruin his life.  
  
"I'm just realigning your priorities. Your attempt to establish a home life with the girl is at the expense of our mutual goals, son."  
  
When in the face of the enemy, it is stupidity to show reaction. Yet Lex could not help the way his nostrils flared, the way he cringed at his father's use of the word. "The only thing we share is mutual enmity. This entire father-son reconciliation act was just a smokescreen to stab me in the back."  
  
"If you were really ready for this huge commitment, Lex, there's no way my actions could have taken it away. Yet now you are here, having just lost your company, sitting alone in the dark. Where is the rock solid foundation you believe your relationship was based on?"  
  
"When I broke away from you, I swore I'd never be under your thumb again. And that means that I am off limits to you. But never mind that, dad. Just know that that means you do not look at, touch or even know Chloe."  
  
Lionel slowly smirked. "Who's going to stop me, Lex? You?"  
  
Lex felt Dominic's withering gaze on him. "I'll fight you on this and I'll win."  
  
"You better have something stronger than words to back up those threats, son."  
  
"Oh believe me, dad. I do."  
  
Lex laid his hand down on the table. He could not blame Clark. Hell, he believed he could have killed his own father. What gave him the idea that Clark would have more faith in him than he did in himself? And now that he imprisoned himself in the house and in the hospital, he could not even stand somewhere several feet away from Chloe to feel better about himself.  
  
The door opened very slowly, shedding light into the dark room. Lex looked up and saw the silhouette on the doorway. His breath caught, because even though the light was behind her shadowing her face, he would recognize her form anywhere.  
  
He tried to speak, to tell her that he was innocent, to insist that he did not try to kill his father despite all his desperate desire to see the old man out of their lives. He wanted her to believe that he could not do what everyone had accused him of. And if all else failed, he wanted her to tell him that she forgave him. He would not protest. As long as she told him that she forgave him, he would admit to the crime.  
  
"You're here," was all he managed to say.  
  
"I'm sorry I stayed away for so long."  
  
Lex swallowed deeply, because she was moving closer to him now. "I let you down."  
  
She was now so close, and if he extended his arm, he could touch her. "I wasn't angry at you, Lex. Don't ever think that. I just feel that this house is so filthy. I feel like I'm dirty here."  
  
He closed his eyes. "Even filthier now, because I shot my father."  
  
Lex never expected the small, smart blow on his temple that followed his statement. He opened his eyes and saw Chloe's young face scrunched up in irritation and disbelief. "Are you insane?" she hissed.  
  
"Maybe I was. Maybe I'll introduce that defense to my lawyer. He'd taped us, Chloe. He'd taped you. I had enough reason to kill him."  
  
And then she did what he never thought she'd do again. Lex's heart jumped to his throat at the contact. She grabbed his hand and brought his fingers to her lips. "How can you say that? These hands have touched me intimately, Lex. They're not capable of hurting anyone, not even your deranged father. Not when they touch me so gently."  
  
It was like a great thorn was removed from his heart, a huge boulder from his shoulders. Lex cupped her cheek. His eyes roamed the face that he missed so deeply. She was so beautiful. Despite the brave front she showed the world, she was his salvation. She was going deeper into a life she should never have been exposed to. Now that it seemed like he will be working for his father again, he felt it was only apt that he warn her, "You'll be treading in the darkness that is my life."  
  
And she understood. Even glad. "You were born into the darkness Lionel created, Lex. That darkness isn't inside you. And I'm ready to walk through it with you."  
  
Lex finally smiled, the first time in the longest week of his life. "Make sure I don't stumble here. You'll be my guiding light."  
  
Chloe nodded, and kissed his fingers. "As much as you've always been mine." 


	36. Do You Feel the Rush?

DO YOU FEEL THE RUSH?  
  
Sometimes he did not know what to do. But that was nothing new. Gabe Sullivan has always been at a loss in almost everything regarding his daughter. When Chloe was born, Gabe had no idea how to hold her. He almost dropped her then. But it wasn't really his fault that Chloe was so slippery. After that unforgettable day, Gabe had been as clueless as no other father ever was when it came to raising a girl. His wife, in a rocky time in their marriage, decided to up and leave him for a weekend at her mother's when Chloe was a year old. Gabe ended up putting creamer in her hot water bottle rather than milk. That sealed the deal for him. He knew he wasn't winning Best Dad in the World prizes in his lifetime. When his wife finally left him because apparently he did not just suck at being a father but also at being a husband, Gabe fumbled at every deatil. It was a surprise that Chloe managed to survive the years with him with all her limbs intact. Gabe had alternately forgotten to pick her up after school, left her cereal in places too high for her to reach, and given her mismatched pairs of socks, pins and earrings. Gabe had been so busy working because that he was good at, and he escaped acting like a father to Chloe, that he would just be surprised to find Chloe crying in her bed after being involved with one villainous, mutated high school boy after another. There were times when Chloe acted strangely after they moved to Smallville. He overheard from the Ross kid that his daughter had a 'thing' for the Kent boy. He had shaken his head and ignored the information. They were girls and boys, much too young to entertain thoughts of crushes or love. And he was too much of a coward to discuss the birds and the bees to his baby girl. The moment it happened between Chloe and his boss, Gabe had tried to stay even farther away. Now here he was, caught in his own trap. Every glance and touch that he had seen before, he chose to let go. He told himself what was happening would pass. And Gabe was in the hospital waiting room again, with two intense young men with him. One radiated tension with every step of his pacing, as he ran his fingers through his hair. Clark Kent went back and forth from wall to wall, glanced up at the clock, flexed his fingers in frustration, and repeated the cycle. Lex Luthor, on the other hand, sat quietly on a plastic chair, with his clasped hands cradling his chin. He stared at an invisible point on the floor, not paying attention to anyone around him. It reminded Gabe of a tight coil threatening to burst at any time. Gabe wondered when exactly Clark would acknowledge Lex's presence and comment about it. For all Clark knew, Lex knew nothing about Chloe other than the fact that he was Gabe's daughter. It was half an hour before Pete was wheeled in to the operating room. Clark stopped midstep and scrunched his eyebrows at his friend. "Why aren't you in a room lying down?" "They got the worm out easily. It was lodged here." Pete motioned to a spot on his neck. "Easy access. It stings, but otherwise it was a minor operation." "That's great, Pete. I'm glad you're okay now." Gabe noticed that while Lex's gaze did not stray from the floor, his eyes looked more alert. He knew that the young man was now actively listening to the conversation. "I asked my nurse about Chloe. She's still knocked out. They had to give her anesthesia coz her worm was lodged perilously close to her spine." Clark shook her head. "I knew I should've gotten her to the hospital sooner. That thing could have killed her." He wheeled Pete to a corner and finally settled his weight down on a plastic chair. They talked more quietly now, their voices low. "So what was that, man?" Pete asked. "Coz what I saw was crazy. You and Chloe getting it on, while fun in my addled brain, is now just half sick, half exciting." "It was adrenaline," Clark claimed by way of explanation. "She was doing things she normally wouldn't do." "Be honest, Clark. You know what this is about. She's attracted to you. You are to her." "And that's it," Clark insisted. "You love her, Clark." "I do," Clark said reluctantly. "But-" "You have the best of both worlds, man." Gabe watched Lex carefully for any reaction. Lex impressed him. His eyes were dead, as if he was hearing a story about strangers. "The way we love each other, Pete, we both know there's more out there." Gabe stood up when he saw Chloe's doctor pass. Lex's head reared up for the first time. Gabe headed out and talked to the doctor, then followed him into his daughter's room. When Gabe returned from his short visit with Chloe. He felt Lex's eyes on him. He knew how much Lex wanted to stand up and barge into that room. In fact, he wouldn't blame him if he did. It was a tense wait for anyone. "Clark, would you like to go in. Chloe's a bit groggy but you can talk to her." The boy's brilliant smile confirmed Gabe's fears. Clark really was changing. Just a little too late. Or maybe it has always been too late. Who knew? After all, he doubted that even Chloe and Lex had any idea before they met again. Gabe sat next to Lex and waited until both Pete and Clark had left the room. "I remember when I met you. You were giving this other kid, the son of your father's contractors, such a hard time because he liked your remote control car so much." Lex turned his head and looked at the other man. "It was my car." "You're a possessive young man. You always have been. You think you can forgive her?" "What are you talking about?" Lex asked, pretending ignorance. "My daughter. I'm not wearing blinds you know." Lex grinned. More than a year and Gabe could say this? "Alright. I may have tried to blind myself to it. But I've suspected. And my daughter just confirmed it." "She told you?" "She was high." Gabe grinned. The delight faded from his lips when he remembered. "When I came in she was sleeping. And she just sighed. The sigh sounded distinctly like a name." Lex read the older man's expression and frowned. "You're not angry." "I don't have the right. Chloe learned to live her life pretty early. She had to make her own choices young." "I'm in love with her." "That doesn't answer my question, Lex," Gabe said. "Do you think you can forgive her?" "I think it does." Lex saw Clark pass by the door, heading for the exit. Moments later, Lana Lang slowly walked out of the hospital. "Does she know?" Lex asked Gabe. Gabe shook his head. "I'm concerned, but the doctor assures me nothing's wrong. Pete remembers most of everything, but she has no clue." Lex took a deep breath and instructed, "Don't tell her." Lex stood up and headed out of the waiting room. He'd waited for his turn like the hiding man that he was. Gabe followed closely behind him. When they reached Chloe's door, they met a nurse who clutched a clipboard to her chest. "I just gave her painkillers," she said apologetically. "Ms Sullivan's sleeping now." "That's fine." Lex walked into the room and sat on the chair beside the bed. He picked up her hand. It was hot and just a little thicker because of the dextrose tube.  
  
"Gabe, I might be coming in late tomorrow. Can you handle everything in the meantime?"  
  
"Sure."  
  
Morning broke with slithers of light and warmth dancing on his cheek. Lex slowly opened his eyes and automatically searched for the slits of green ones of the woman on the bed.  
  
"I feel like I need to apologize to you. What did I do?"  
  
Lex smiled and shook his head. "You forgot to tell me that you were planning a joyride."  
  
Chloe bit her lip. "Well in defense, I was out of my mind." And then she grinned. "Can you forgive me?"  
  
Lex brought up her hand that he was still holding and kissed her knuckles. "Of course I forgive you. I always will."  
  
"Thank you. I promise I'll never do it again." 


	37. Return of the Prodigal

RETURN OF THE PRODIGAL  
  
To say that he was incensed would have been a sin. That he was furious was an understatement. Lex had never experienced such an intense mixture of anger and betrayal in his entire life-and his teenage years were no picnic.  
  
Lex pressed harder on the gas pedal, veering left to the familiar drive.  
  
It was not even that his father had frozen his assets. What drove deep was the look in the eyes of the brother he had searched for. Even if his primary goal in finding him was to force his father's hand, Lex had felt that Lucas could be a real brother to him given time. Earlier, he was none of the surprised delight that graced his brother's face when Lex had found him. Lucas' eyes were as calculating and cold as their father's were.  
  
It was almost as if this were not the same young man who sat across from him and Chloe in the limousine, fast departing the scene in Edge City. That young man had been awed by Lex's revelation. That Lucas had been eager to listen to every word that Chloe uttered as she explained how she found him, how she helped Lex track him down, and how eventually the trail of tragic games led them to the coast.  
  
Standing behind his father, Lucas no longer looked like his brother. He merely looked like a Luthor.  
  
"Something you learn at the tables, Lex," Lucas had told him. "You size up your options. You never know when you might have to change your strategy mid-hand."  
  
He shook the words out of his head, reminding himself that his brother was young and despite all the games he had played, Lucas did not known just how hard it was to win in real life. Lex knew. You stick to the cards you were dealt and have faith that they would pull you through.  
  
He slowed down in front of the Sullivan house. He had one ace up his sleeve that he still had no idea if his father truly knew about. Nevertheless, Lex smoothly got off the car and almost ran up to the door. He pitied his brother despite the treachery. Lucas did not have the same guiding light Lex had, and was more vulnerable to go down the dark road that lay before his family.  
  
Lex rang the bell, eager to see her and breathe in her scent. It was the only thing certain to calm him after being kicked out of his own house. His father would call this demanding return for investment. Lex simply thought of it as his need.  
  
The door opened slightly. Chloe's hair was mussed around her face. He could tell that she had just fallen asleep on freshly showered hair. She was even still wearing the worn bathrobe he had repeatedly tried to replace with designer ones. Yet there was something about the soreness of her eyes that told him that this was more than a sleepy gaze.  
  
"May I step in?"  
  
She met his eyes only briefly before looking away. Chloe blinked the sleep from her eyes. "The house is a mess, Lex."  
  
"I've seen your house in a mess."  
  
"And I'm in a robe, Lex."  
  
His eyebrow arched in silent reply. He would have made a comment about it had he not seen how she bit her lower lip and shifted an inch inside the house, away from him.  
  
"Maybe another time," she said.  
  
Lex straightened when Chloe started to close the door. He slammed his palm flat on the wood and shook his head. "No, you don't. Something's wrong with you. You're going to tell me what it is now," he said in a low tone. He did not know that it was possible for his own problems to slip away the way they did. He was amazed by how he discarded the cloak of his own family's betrayal by Chloe not acting like his Chloe.  
  
For the first time since he arrived, she met his eyes and he could see that hers were moist. The soreness rimming them was not from sleep at all, but from crying, he realized now.  
  
"And you know me so well," came her soft whisper.  
  
The tone, more than the words, got him worried. The command that he had used earlier would have driven Chloe in either of two directions-shrilly offended or high-pitched anger. This reaction worried him. It was a Chloe Sullivan that he did not know.  
  
"Tell me if I don't then. Help me understand so I can help you."  
  
She frowned and Lex noticed how her eyes were unfocused, as if she were staring at something beyond him. "I need.I need to be alone, Lex. Maybe some other time."  
  
He was losing her to that damn point past him she was looking at. And Lex couldn't do anything about it because he couldn't see it. He needed to stay with her, even if he had to do it like this-outside her house freezing his ass off with her trying to close the door on his face.  
  
"My father kicked me out. He replaced me with Lucas. I need to stay with you, Chloe."  
  
One ephemeral moment when she actually tuned in to him. Her eyes ran over him from head to die, checking to see if he was physically alright from the encounter. It relieved Lex to know that she still cared enough to do it.  
  
"I think it would be better if you stayed with Clark, Lex. His house is bigger. I'm sure Mr. Kent can give you a room. Or you can stay in Clark's Fortress."  
  
"I'm not just looking for a place to stay," he told her, hoping that he still had enough of the cursed Luthor charm to convince her.  
  
"You know Clark, Lex. He'll lend you an ear."  
  
And before he could respond, the door closed in front of him. The thought occurred to him that that was their first encounter since they got together that he was never even able to touch her.  
  
~~  
  
She'd put it off for a whole day now. Chloe stared at the box sitting on the sink. All through last night she had regretted sending Lex away. It would have been so easy to pull him inside and tell him. The words were simple. She had dreamed of using them for such a long time. When reality came though, she was nothing more than a cowardly little girl pretending to be smart and mature enough to be worthy of Lex.  
  
She had wanted to call him all night. Why should Lex spend his time in Clark's cold barn when he could stay in her house? She wanted so much to drop by the Kents, pretend to be visiting Martha and just find an excuse to talk to Lex and apologize. Since she still had no idea how to explain herself, Chloe opted to help him another way. She researched even deeper into Lucas' past and had Clark deliver the information to Lex. At least in that much, she could help him without anyone becoming suspicious.  
  
Chloe wanted to claim it was guilt that was driving her to the bathroom every hour, but she knew it was an entirely different thing. The answer to her problem sat there jeering at her, taunting her to take it.  
  
She reached out a trembling hand. Seeing how her fingers jerked, Chloe closed her hand into a fist and breathed. Finally, she grabbed the box and opened it, trying to read the instructions at the back. She had perhaps browsed through the words four times when she gave up. Her brain did not have the capacity to comprehend, but she had watched to many movies to not know how this was done.  
  
Chloe left the test on the sink again, not knowing why she was crying the entire time. She wanted to have a family with Lex. They've talked about girls who looked like her and boys who looked like him. She had no doubt in her mind that Lex adored her, loved her. Yet Chloe had no idea why she was suddenly so scared she was almost paralyzed by the reality she faced then.  
  
Lex had everything going on. There was Lionel, who had always been a problem. Now though, Lucas joined the mix. She had been there through the two weeks of search. Chloe had witnessed how much Lex looked forward to meeting his brother. Lex had so many things to share with Lucas, if only Lucas did not turn from him. Here she was, the only person he could have trusted to be his bolster, about to tell him that she was having a baby. After months of hiding, their secret would explode this way. She did not want this, did not want people thinking of him as a seducer of teenage girls, that he knocked her up at the same time that he lost all his assets. Chloe knew how proud Lex was. He would be devastated at the thought that he had lost his fortune just when he was going to have a child.  
  
And what about her?  
  
Chloe shook her head. She did not want to depress herself further if she had any plans of facing Lex today. That was the purpose of the test after all. If she was not, then she could put this behind her. If she was, then.  
  
Maybe Lex could figure out.  
  
There was a loud rapping on her door. Since she was alone in the house, Chloe wrapped herself in her bathrobe again. She hurried towards the door. If this were Lex, then he just made it easier for her. Again, the load rapping. That was when she knew it wasn't Lex. Lex had the grace to use the doorbell. She peeked in the hole and hurried to open the door an inch.  
  
"Why do the Luthor men keep appearing on my doorstep?"  
  
"I'm not a Luthor. My name is Dunleavy." Lucas merely pushed the door open wider and stepped in.  
  
"I didn't invite you in," she snapped.  
  
"Shut up," Lucas gritted out.  
  
"I want you to leave," Chloe said. She pulled her bathrobe tightly closed. "I'm busy."  
  
"I need to know something and then I'm out of here. You were with Lex when he picked me up from Edge City. You're the only one who can answer my question."  
  
Tired, she released her breath and asked, "What is it?"  
  
"He's using me to get his money."  
  
"That's not a question." Lucas ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. "Lex may have had that in his mind too, Lucas, but you've been foremost on his priorities since he found out about you. If Lex ever wanted you to help him remove his father from the board, it's so that the two of you can leave independent of Lionel."  
  
"All of you are liars," Lucas told her. "Why should I believe you now?"  
  
"Because you want to," Chloe suggested. "You wouldn't have come to my house if you didn't want to hear this."  
  
"I want to know the truth," he corrected her.  
  
"You want to know this truth," Chloe replied. "Admit it, Lucas. You would not have gone to my house simply for truth."  
  
Lucas stood up. "Believe what you will." He walked towards the wall and looked at the framed photos of Chloe as a baby, as an infant, until some shots of her, Clark and Pete in high school.  
  
Chloe saw the rebellious yet longing look in Lucas' eyes. "You know, teenage life is hellish. You didn't miss a lot," she said sympathetically.  
  
"I've been in hell, Chloe. I doubt we have the same idea of it." Chloe's eyes widened when Lucas stopped in front of the bathroom door. "I'm leaving." She sighed in relief. "I just need to use your bathroom."  
  
She closed her eyes when Lucas vanished behind the door. True, the test was on the sink. It was on the corner though. And even if Lucas saw it, he would not have an idea about what it is. At least she hoped so.  
  
Lucas left the room without saying anything, so Chloe smiled a little. At least she was spared that. She walked Lucas to the door and waved him off. She hoped that his short visit changed his mind about the side he would join.  
  
Chloe slowly walked to the bathroom to check for herself-every step long, deafening, and paralyzing.  
  
~~  
  
Dear Chloe,  
  
I sent Lucas away under my protection. He's going to be fine. It still surprises me why he suddenly had a change of heart.  
  
But he told her you want to see me.  
  
So I have a small idea why.  
  
Will you see me now?  
  
Lex  
  
Lex,  
  
We need to talk.  
  
Chloe  
  
Dear Chloe,  
  
Open your door. 


	38. Fever Pitch

FEVER PITCH  
  
Chloe opened the door and immediately saw the silver car parked out front. Lex placed the laptop down on the passenger seat and stepped out of his car. Their eyes met from the distance and never let go. Purposefully, Lex strode towards the house and the young woman who stayed unmoving on her porch.  
  
When he reached her, Lex took her hands in his, only to have her pull them away. She turned her head away and looked instead at one of the plants that lined her home, as if they were more interesting or at least less hurtful to look at than he.  
  
"You've got to talk to me," he said gently. Lex took her chin in one hand and tipped her face to his. "I miss your voice."  
  
"I think I'm pregnant," Chloe replied simply. "I have an appointment with my doctor tomorrow morning. The test I took now was positive."  
  
The barrage of images in his brain that accompanied her words left him dizzy. There was the company on the verge of collapse, his father who remained the biggest threat to everything he held dear, Clark who would feel betrayed when he finds out about his two closest friends, Gabe whose trust Lex had repeatedly abused. But most of all, there was an image of a golden-haired child and a toothless laugh sucking milk from its young mother's breast. He was assailed by varying emotions topped with a voice inside his head repeating his own words for Chloe. She really was too young to be a mother. It did not take away the mind-numbing joy that gripped him when he saw that baby.  
  
Carefully, he asked her, "How do you feel about it?"  
  
She must have considered his eyes, the set of his shoulders, the line of his mouth. In the space of twenty-four breaths, she told him, "I want you to leave me alone."  
  
"Chloe-"  
  
"Just for one whole day, Lex, because I'm drowning."  
  
"Then I can't leave you."  
  
And then all the tears that she held in surfaced. She pushed him away determinedly. "I don't want you to see me now, Lex, because you'll get hurt. I want to think."  
  
"I'm staying, Chloe." He knew she did not invite him in because she was planning to send him away. Lex made up his mind though. He was staying and there was no reason to do this within eye view of cars driving by. Lex propelled them both inside and closed the door firmly behind him. "So do whatever it was you were going to do."  
  
The stubborn set of his jaw and hard eyes told her that was going to do whatever he pleased. Chloe shook her head and maneuvered herself away from his. His body had somehow become disturbing to her, when once she could fall asleep on him worrying about nothing. Lex's presence now, when she most needed time alone, was violating the space she wanted.  
  
Lex saw the pictures and other novelty items scattered on the coffee table. He knew he could not ask. He had forced his way in at a time when she wanted privacy, but he could not intrude on this. But he could not leave her alone either. He knew Chloe. The more she was left alone, the more she would draw back into herself. She may solve her problem or not, but he would never hear about it again.  
  
For a few minutes, Chloe kept glancing at him. She was obviously unsettled. He remained as still and silent as he could be. Soon, she was looking through the things on the table as if he had been forgotten. Lex watched at how fondly she looked at pictures of her, Clark and Pete. She set aside some clippings and lovingly touched cheap plastic and glass baubles that undoubtedly came from her teenage friends.  
  
Lex's gaze went over the knick-knacks. He would never have thought about buying those for a girl he cared about. Yet here Chloe was, with her impeccable taste and unique ideas, treasuring worthless crap from the manufacturing industry. Lex thought he saw a picture frame embellished with macaroni.  
  
He was almost certain that she had forgotten he was there when she picked up a pink slip of paper and said, "I want to be who I was before you came back into my life. I was a journalism geek, an honest friend, a girl pining desperately for her best friend." Chloe looked at him directly and continued, "I was pathetic but I was safe from this."  
  
Lex rose from the couch and walked over to her. He knelt down beside her. "I know you're scared."  
  
"This is my fault. I wanted to grow up too fast," she sniffled. "But I'm too young for this, Lex. I don't want to be a statistic. You may be a Luthor, but I will still end up a statistic."  
  
"What do you need to do?"  
  
Chloe held out the piece of paper that she had been holding. Lex took it and read silently. Afterwards, he reached for her purse and slipped it inside. He leaned in to kiss the corner of her lips and was thankful that she did not turn away.  
  
"Go upstairs and sleep. I'll stay here in the couch. Tomorrow morning, we'll drive to Clark's."  
  
Chloe swallowed and nodded. "Why to Clark's before the hospital?"  
  
"Because I want you to settle this in your heart no matter what the results are."  
  
"Lex, I'm in love with you," she said softly. "This is just something I need to do."  
  
The next day, Chloe left Lex waiting in the car as she walked up to the house, sat beside Clark and read; "I want to let you in on a secret. I'm not who you think I am. In fact, my disguise is so thin, I'm surprised you haven't seen right through me. I'm the girl of your dreams masquerading as your best friend. Sometimes I want to rip off this facade like I did at the Spring Formal, but I can't because you'll get scared and you'll run away again. So I decided that it's better to live with a lie than expose my true feelings."  
  
Even as the words slipped out of her mouth, Chloe knew. She had read before, about a brilliant light and the refreshing clearing that you feel in your mind when something important is revealed to you. She cried of the wonderful release that accompanied finally reading this aloud, even to a sick Clark, "My dad told me there are two types of girls. The ones you grow out of and the ones you grow into. I really hope I'm the latter. I may not be the one you love today, but I'll let you go for now, hoping one day you'll fly back to me because I think you're worth the wait."  
  
Chloe stood up and walked to the door. She glanced back to where Clark lay sleeping. She was amazed by how much lighter her heart felt. "Thanks for listening," she whispered. Chloe opened the door to the even brighter day outside and walked, every step faster than the one before it, towards the isolated shade where Lex was parked.  
  
"She's gone," she gasped the moment she was settled in the passenger seat.  
  
Lex looked at her, not allowing his emotions to show through. "Who is, Chloe?"  
  
"The girl I was before you came back. I'm a different woman now. And I have more problems, but I'm not alone anymore."  
  
Lex smiled a little and nodded. "I'm sorry I stole your life away."  
  
"Are you?" she challenged him.  
  
Finally he answered, "No. Because I've never been so happy my whole life."  
  
"I'm sorry I wanted you to give it back."  
  
Lex grinned and kissed her fully on the lips. "I'll even stay while they draw your blood."  
  
~~  
  
Chloe leaned against Lex as they waited for the blood to be processed. She closed her eyes, completely comfortable with the man who loved her enough to let her confess her love for another guy. She grinned. She hoped her baby would have as much control and love as its father.  
  
She opened her eyes when Lex stiffened. That was her only sign that the results had come in.  
  
Helen handed her the envelope that held the reading. Before Chloe opened it, Helen told them, "Your dad has eyes and ears in this hospital, Lex. I suspect one of the interns. I'm sorry, but he saw that I was processing for possible pregnancy. I think he saw you come together. You'll have to think of a way to throw your father off, Lex."  
  
When they were finally alone, Chloe tore the envelope open. She took out the folded paper. "We should thinking of names."  
  
Lex nodded and smiled. She was making jokes, so he knew she was still okay. But she still did not open the paper. He was going to think of his father later. Right now was his moment with Chloe. It could turn out to be one of the most important moments, if it wasn't already.  
  
"You open it."  
  
Lex took the paper in his hands and opened it to the result. He felt her shiver beside him. "How do you feel now?"  
  
"Strangely disappointed," she answered. "But it's for the best, right?"  
  
Lex nodded. "When it finally happens for us, neither of us is going to have to ask how we feel about it. Do you trust me on that?"  
  
"Always." Still, she wrapped her arms around him and buried her face in his shirt. Lex knew that she would leave a wet stain. 


	39. Rosetta: Guardian Reborn Chronicles

ROSETTA: GUARDIAN REBORN CHRONICLES  
  
She had no idea what song it was she was humming. All Chloe knew was that she tapped a steady rhythm with her foot. She concentrated on paring the green mangoes piled in front of her. She could not wait to eat them all. Chloe lifted her fingers and tasted the juice. It was deliciously sour. The taste could jar her awake more than a large mug of coffee could.  
  
Lex was across from her. He had five yellow mangoes sliced up on a plate in front of him. The rich sweet juice made an attractive puddle at the center of the plate. He filled the air with trivia questions that made Chloe furrow her brow and look very appealing.  
  
"Can you tell me for what purpose women for centuries have consumed more than fifty percent of the world's green mango supply?" he asked.  
  
Again, that wonderful pondering expression. "For feasts?"  
  
"No."  
  
"How, Lex?"  
  
"Pregnancy craving," he answered easily. "It's the most popular choice in tropical climates."  
  
Chloe shifted her gaze from the mangoes to Lex. When he grinned at her, she averted her eyes and swallowed uncomfortably. "Interesting." Chloe picked up a knife and started cutting off pieces of the green mango. "Did you.. uh.. Did you notice anything odd about Clark lately?"  
  
Lex caught on to the shift. He tried to make her at ease by assuming a light tone. "There's always been something off about your best friend."  
  
"My best friend!" she repeated, smiling. "Aren't you the guy he's spent more time with the past year?"  
  
"An excellent point," he acknowledged.  
  
"Anyway, he was so mad about what he supposed was my snooping around his family one minute and the next, he pulls this Jekyll and Hyde thing on me. I swear that that guy changes so much so abruptly in one day that someday I won't recognize him!" Chloe related in disbelief. "He asked for my help locating Swann as if he hadn't just yelled at me."  
  
Lex shook his head and set the mangoes on a tray. The two of them walked into the library. "And the little boy pretending to be a young man reveals himself yet again," he commented.  
  
Chloe opened the door as he walked in with the tray. They settled on the stuffy couch they adored to sit quietly on whenever they were there reading. Lex continued, "I found him in the cave before dawn. I'm beginning to suspect that Clark has this huge secret he doesn't want the world to know about-"  
  
"You've always suspected that," she told him with a wry grin.  
  
Lex nodded. A sly curve of his lips alerted Chloe to an impending line. "- or Clark's seeing someone that Jonathan wouldn't approve of."  
  
"Lex!" Chloe gasped. "You're sick!"  
  
The two of them share a naughty bout of laughter. On impulse, Lex caught her by the upper arms and pulled her to him. Chloe turned her face up so that they would be in the perfect angle for a kiss. He cupped her nape and gently kissed the corner of her mouth, deepening the kiss and nipping her lower lip as they progressed. Chloe ran her hands over his head as his firm lips moved to her neck and behind her ears.  
  
"Hmmm," she moaned.  
  
The soft sound made Lex jerk up and away from her. Chloe opened her eyes. She had not been intimate with Lex since the scare, and she was not prepared to see how far they could go right now. Not this early. Not without actually talking about it with him. She was thankful that he had the strength to stop because she doubted she would have been able to. She would have just hated herself afterwards.  
  
Chloe sat up and reached for a large slice of green mango. She stuffed the whole piece into her mouth and scrunched her face at the explosion of sourness. Having effectively killed the excitement that Lex stirred in her, Chloe stood and walked over to the desk where a pile of shiny reading material lay.  
  
"Oh! Oh! Oh!" Chloe let out as she recognized them.  
  
Lex took a deep breath. "So you've heard the rumors too?"  
  
"Are you insane?" she gasped. "Everyone's talking about Rosetta! And these are pre-released editions." Chloe touched the comic books reverently.  
  
"Yeah. I pulled Stahl out of retirement for the Guardian Reborn series."  
  
Chloe beamed at him. It more than made up for the ridiculous price he had to pay for the man to work again. "Oh I love you!"  
  
"It's supposed to chronicle the opposite side of Warrior Angel. You've wondered so much about the background story that I contacted the creator himself. I absolutely did not give him directions about what to write. Rosetta: Guardian Reborn will be purely his work. Let's see how correct you were about what happened to Devilicus before the change."  
  
"You mean you haven't read them yet?" Chloe asked, teary-eyed.  
  
"Without you? You're kidding me."  
  
Chloe hugged the comic books to her chest and made her way back to Lex. She flopped right beside him and learned against his body. He lifted his arm and laid it across her shoulders. Chloe opened the first book and for the meantime, both forgot about reservations and distances to be established.  
  
"Rosetta: Guadian Reborn Chronicles," she read excitedly. "Volume 1"  
  
They leafed through the pages silently.  
  
Devilicus swam in clear water. He dove deep into the water and just stayed underneath. He saw the vast emptiness and grabbed his throat as he started to drown. When the water transformed into blood, Devilicus stopped struggling and opened his arms wide. The density of the blood propelled him upwards. The last frame for the introduction showed him floating on his back, his arms thrown open, drenched in blood and his eyes closed against the sun.  
  
For the first time in dozens of issues, Chloe spotted the guardian that had always intrigued her. This issue though, the blonde guardian was not a faint image in the background. A circular panel at the center of the third page had the face inked in clear perfection.  
  
"She looks a bit like me," she said wryly, looking up at Lex.  
  
"I only said I didn't influence the story. I didn't say I made no requests about how your favorite background character should look like."  
  
Stahl had finally named her. At the start of the real story, which was the first conscious world event of the comic since the first panes were Devilicus' dream sequence, Eurydice stood in front of figured cloaked in gold.  
  
"I can offer you no assurance," she told them. "But I am willing to make the effort. If you will only allow me." Drawn in full figure, Eurydice's hair reached the small of her back and she was clothed in a white version of the dress that Chloe wore to Lex's first marriage.  
  
"What you are asking of us," one of the cloaked figures replied, "will disrupt the universe. Why should we grant you this? More importantly, why must we grant Devilicus this chance? He is choosing to betray his roots."  
  
"If you do not risk this then you are putting the universe in greater danger," she replied passionately. "I know Devilicus. You know the extent of his powers. He can destroy you all if he wants to. One rift in the universe of my passing from this plane to the living is nothing compared to saving one of your best Guardians from a fall from grace."  
  
"Very well, Eurydice. One week."  
  
She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, overwhelmed by her gratitude and relief. She felt herself surrounded by a million lights that she was almost blinded even with closed eyes. The next moment that she opened them, she found herself in a dark alley.  
  
Eurydice picked up her flowing dress to lift the hem from the damp ground. From a distance she saw his figure emerge. Her heart skipped, only her heart did not really beat anymore. He was still larger than life, more beautiful than any male had a right to be.  
  
"Devilicus!" she called out.  
  
Eurydice ran towards him and stopped a few feet away. Devilicus was heading towards a guardian whose back was turned to him. She glimpsed his shining fist.  
  
"No, Dev. Don't," she whispered.  
  
Yet Devilicus did not turn to her. He said the guardian's name. When the other guardian turned to face him, Devilicus lifted his fist. Eurydice rushed between them. If he saw her, he would stop. Devilicus only needed to see her to come back from whatever hell was clouding his vision.  
  
The smoldering fist went straight through her heart and buried deep into the other guardian's body. Eurydice looked down, defeated. He did not even feel her presence. She felt herself disintegrate slowly into the phantom she truly was.  
  
He did not even feel her. His anger had consumed him.  
  
She had six days to figure out how to make him see her in this form.  
  
The last page has another one of Warrior Angel's famous endings. It was a full page color illustration of Eurydice looking up at the sky, one crystal tear halfway down her cheek. The thought bubble read, "I traded heaven for this. Why couldn't you even feel me, Dev?"  
  
Chloe closed the first issue of Rosetta slowly and sighed. She laid the comic book down on the table and burrowed deeper into Lex's side. Lex tightened his arm around her. "Are you okay?"  
  
She shook her head. "It was so sad. For the person you love to forget you. I wouldn't have been able to live with that."  
  
"Don't you see, Chloe? He didn't forget. He was merely too blinded by his hatred that he never felt her."  
  
"And that's the same as forgetting," she rationalized. "To think she exchanged heaven for that."  
  
"I don't know," he replied. "Whether he recognized her or not, whether he even knew someone was there or not. It doesn't matter. It would still be heaven for me, no matter how much it will hurt me, if I can still see you."  
  
"That's where we're different then, Lex."  
  
"Why do you say that?"  
  
"Being with you, and you not remembering us, would be the most painful hell for me. I'd rather that I not be with you at all."  
  
The words worried Lex, although he did not understand why. Instead he shook his head again and dropped a kiss on top of her head. "Well then aren't you glad we're both ordinary humans? I won't fall from the sky. You wouldn't need to leave heaven to save me."  
  
Chloe extricated herself from the embrace just enough to look up at him. Lex was prepared to match her grin. But she was looking intently at him. "Deal," was all she said. 


	40. No Visitors Allowed

Note: We are going to slowly move away from the canon. By season 3, we will have only the titles from the canon.  
  
NO VISITORS ALLOWED  
  
Chloe was getting depressed. Each of the issues of the Rosetta: Guardian Reborn Chronicles was sadder than the lost. She mentioned it to Lex when he walked in the door of his study.  
  
"What did you expect from a series about one character's metamorphosis from hero to villain?"  
  
She rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. "That's a given. But still, it's almost pointless to be reading this. Devilicus will be the villain, and all of the fans know it. I just feel helpless that I can't change Warrior Angel canon."  
  
Lex walked over to the couch where she was lying. He sat beside her and took the issue in her hand. He looked at the cover and recognized which one it was. "So you just found out how Eurydice died exactly?"  
  
Chloe pulled herself up so she can sit with Lex. She leaned against him and just stared.  
  
Lex looked down at Chloe and stared back, smiling. "What?" he asked. "What, Chloe?" He knew that look in her eyes, and it never failed to thrill him.  
  
"You forgot something."  
  
"I'm sorry," he murmured. "What was I thinking?" Lex dropped the comics on his lap and cupped her face with his hands. Then, he bent closer to kiss her lips. "Hey Chloe. How are you today?"  
  
Chloe smiled and kissed him back, moving her lips to nibble on his chin. She said against his jaw line, "Very well, Lex. Thank you for asking. And you?"  
  
"I'm amazing tonight because I'm having dinner with the woman of my dreams," came his easy reply.  
  
Chloe grinned. "I thought you weren't seeing Helen until tomorrow."  
  
"Don't be difficult." Lex kissed her one more time before returning to the comics. "So you know how Eurydice died?"  
  
Chloe nodded. "That the humans that killed her in the original were actually planted by one of Devilicus' closest friends?"  
  
"That's right."  
  
"Thus Stahl is giving us this neon signal about why Devilicus turned against the Guardian Realm too."  
  
"Precisely. Some of the Guardians knew. And afterwards they recognized that one of their own caused Eurydice's death."  
  
Chloe sighed again. She picked up the next issue of Rosetta and stared at the cover, of Devilicus as fans of the original Warrior Angel knew him. Devilicus sat on a chair with tall backing, in a dark room lit only by one bulb over him. On the floor around him lay his clipped bloodied wings.  
  
"And here it is-the end we cannot change no matter how much we root for him."  
  
"If it has you so sad, Chloe," Lex started, taking her hand, "why did you want to read it so badly? I wouldn't have had it published if it would make you feel awful."  
  
"Because I love him, Lex," she said simply. "I loved him when he was good and I loved him more when he became the villain because it showed me how much Eurydice meant to him; It showed me he wasn't tied to the rules because he was his own man; It showed me that it doesn't matter what everyone else tells you. You have to do what you believe in."  
  
"So the way he killed everyone was okay to you?"  
  
Chloe raised her eyebrows and glanced down at the comic book in her hands. She traced the fallen wings at Devilicus' feet. "He made things harder for Warrior Angel. He caused all kinds of chaos. He made the people who killed Eurydice suffer. But he never ever killed anyone, Lex."  
  
"People did die because of the chaos he created, Chloe."  
  
Chloe shrugged. "People die."  
  
Lex chuckled and shook his head. "Remind me again how much of a fanatic you are?"  
  
She grinned. "So what's for dinner, Lex? Or did you just tell your cook to make whatever?"  
  
"Hey! I resent that. With you, I'm hands on."  
  
"You made dinner yourself?"  
  
Lex closed his hands around hers and pulled her up. "I picked it up myself."  
  
"Aaah. Clever."  
  
Right on time, a maid came into the room bearing a tray of Chinese takeout. She smiled at Chloe and placed the takeout on Lex's desk. Another maid stepped in with a bottle of Coke and two glasses.  
  
"Will there be anything else, sir?"  
  
Lex shook his head. "Thank you. And Linda, no visitors."  
  
"Never when Ms Sullivan's here."  
  
"Good." When he and Chloe were left alone, he turned to her and asked, "If you don't like this, we can go to our usual in Metropolis."  
  
"No, no." Chloe shook her head. "This is amazing, Lex. You finally wised up when it comes to a date."  
  
"This doesn't make you less special."  
  
"I feel a lot more special now," she assured him. "You're eating greasy twenty dollar food with me."  
  
Lex extended a hand to her. "Shall we? You can explain to me what I ordered exactly."  
  
Chloe nodded and peeked inside the boxes with Lex, handing him those that she felt he would enjoy. "I saw a feature on you and Helen today."  
  
"I was hoping you wouldn't," Lex replied, opening up some chopsticks bags. "But knowing the newshound that you are, I shouldn't have wasted my time."  
  
"Has Helen said anything about it? I haven't talked to her for a couple of days."  
  
"You know we don't have any contact outside of the charade. She's your friend though. I wonder why she hasn't called you."  
  
Chloe nodded. "She might bring it up tomorrow when you see each other then. I know your father is still trying to contact her. She could be staying quiet to keep him away."  
  
"The wording of the article was tasteless. I doubt it will affect her that much though. It is a fairly unimportant tabloid."  
  
"I feel so bad for her though. She's doing this amazing thing for us, and she's getting the brunt of what I'm supposed to suffer. Without the perks," she added, when Lex wrapped his arm around her shoulders. "I'm sure you won't be as quick to comfort her when she raises her concern."  
  
"Helen is a mature woman who agreed to help us. And I want this charade to end soon too. But Chloe, what Helen is undergoing is the least of what you will. She's a doctor and well in the age of consorting with a Luthor. You're-"  
  
"High School Girl Playing with Fire to Get Ahead?" Chloe said, conjuring up her own headline. "Chloe Sullivan, seventeen, was seen in a compromising position with billionaire Lex Luthor. Sullivan, a high school nobody, is suspected to be trading her young body so that her father's boss will give the older Sullivan a promotion."  
  
"Shut up, Chloe," he commanded softly. "That's disgusting."  
  
"But that's pretty much what they'll say," she reasoned.  
  
"Leave the trash to them. I don't want you saying those. I won't have you even thinking that. I'll shut down their papers before they even write anything like that about you."  
  
"Well have that much passion about their writing trash about Helen!" Chloe argued. "She doesn't deserve this."  
  
"I know." Lex sighed. "Still, you know, better her than you."  
  
"That's not fair," she said softly.  
  
"I know. Just like you defend a villain just because you love the character, right?"  
  
"We're a couple of very sick people, aren't we?"  
  
Lex shrugged. "I don't mind as long as we're a couple."  
  
"What do we do about Helen?"  
  
"You want to join us tomorrow? I never feel comfortable without you around."  
  
Chloe shook her head. "Make sure to tell Helen that we are going to make life easier for her any way we can. Besides, I have to be in school. There's a science fair I have to cover. I just hope there's something really freakish going on there."  
  
"I'm a bad influence if I can make you wish you don't have to go on a story."  
  
Her eyes were twinkling when she retorted, "Why do you feel so good then?"  
  
Lex let out a rush of breath. "Careful, Chloe. I thought we weren't going there yet?"  
  
"I don't want to keep myself from being happy just because we're scared. We can be careful, right? Besides, I know that whatever happens, you'll take care of me."  
  
"Always." 


	41. Teetering on the Precipice

TEETERING ON THE PRECIPICE  
  
The feel of her lips under his was enough to push all the darkness away. Lex closed his eyes and tightened his arms around her. He felt her hand cup his cheek. She deepened the kiss. It was all he could do to pull reluctantly away.  
  
Lex looked down into her half-closed eyes and instructed the driver of the limo, "Take her back to the house or to the hospital."  
  
"No. Wait! I thought I was going with you," Chloe protested in her seat.  
  
He dropped another kiss on her nose. "You've got to go, Chloe."  
  
Lex climbed out of the vehicle and stalked towards Helen Bryce's ex- boyfriend, recently out on bail. The discussion about confronting the man again had been a long one. Chloe had been feeling guilty for a long time about what Helen had been going through because of her involvement with them. Seeing Helen in the hospital brought the guilt rushing back.  
  
They had to help her. They had to make sure that the man would never bother Helen again. It was a simple and convoluted purpose that haunted Chloe until he agreed to do something about it. Now here he was. He tracked him down. It would be a cold day in hell before he allowed Chloe anywhere near the madman though.  
  
"Paul," he called out.  
  
The setting was too cliché. Helen's ex turned around, his shoes an inch deep in the puddle. The alley was dark. The night was cool and dry.  
  
"Rich boy again," Paul drawled. "Come to tell me to stay away from Helen or you'll pay someone to arrest me?"  
  
"I came to tell you not to do anything that will bury you deeper." Lex shook his head. "If you can get out of this mess, just leave. It's not worth it, Paul."  
  
Lex turned his back on the man, eager to go home. He had done his part. He had done their part. Chloe could not possibly need more than this. He had no control over the way an insane man rationalized.  
  
He should have expected it, but Lex had never been at his most intelligent when it concerned the young woman that he loved. He felt a body slam into him from behind. Lex stumbled and fell hard on the abrasive ground.  
  
Lex jerked his elbow into Paul's stomach. When Paul recoiled, Lex jerked up and staggered to his knees. He glared down at Paul. The man threw a punch that Lex easily deflected. He grabbed Paul's shirt and slammed his fist down straight into Paul's mouth, bursting his lip. Lex kicked at Paul's thighs. He let the man go. Paul collapsed onto his arms and knees.  
  
"I don't fight to kill," Lex spat out. "Not anymore."  
  
Lex stumbled away from the heaving man. He was a few steps away from the light of the street when tight hands grabbed his arms. The cold point that settled at the small of his back stopped him in his tracks.  
  
"Turn around. Back into the alley, Luthor."  
  
Lex dragged his feet slowly into the darkness. He breathed slowly, in and out. He kept his breathing slow, to keep calm. He walked farther and farther from the light, feeling the prick of the knife. He closed his eyes and walked blindly, not much different because of the unlit alley. He conjured the image of Chloe in his mind, and suddenly, his eyes were flooded with brightness. He would not die that night.  
  
By some miracle, Paul's forceful steps faltered. Lex was able to veer away and look at his attacker. His eyes widened when he found out what the miracle save was. Paul was fighting Chloe off against the dank wall. Lex saw Paul hand grab at the front of Chloe's blouse, tearing away the cloth in violence. Lex's sight grew red. He took Paul by the back of his shirt and pulled him away from Chloe. At the periphery of his vision, he saw Chloe sit limply on the wet ground.  
  
Paul looked down at his hand, at Lex, and then at Chloe. The man scampered quickly away. Lex walked over to Chloe and helped her up. He pulled her back towards the street and into the limo.  
  
"What did you think you were doing?" he demanded.  
  
Chloe leaned back against the cushions. "Saving your sweet ass," she breathed.  
  
"That isn't funny, Chloe! I told you to go home. You had no right endangering yourself like that."  
  
"Sorry."  
  
Lex frowned. Chloe never gave up early in an argument. There were too few instances when that happened, and those instances never bode well. "Chloe," he said firmly. Her glazed eyes turned to him. He scanned her face-her trembling lips, her pallid complexion, the sheen of perspiration of her skin. "Chloe, are you cold?" he inquired coolly, knowing that it was not the time to lose control.  
  
He reached for her cheeks and felt the tiny shiver. He was terrified by the look in her eyes. He ran his hands down her sides. When he felt the warm stickiness at the side of her waist, Lex's eyes went to hers.  
  
"The hospital!" he yelled to the driver.  
  
"No," Chloe whispered. "No. No hospital. Lex, you know we can't."  
  
He grasped his head between his hands, staining his face with her blood. "Fuck," he muttered. "We've got to get you looked at, Chloe."  
  
She touched his face and leaned towards him. "I'm cold."  
  
He enfolded her in his arms, rubbing her back to help the blood circulate. "Chloe, we have to-"  
  
"No hospital. Promise me," she said, before drifting to unconsciousness.  
  
Lex held her tightly against him. He could think of only one destination. As the driver took him there, Lex rested his lips on Chloe's hair, his eyes closed. It was one of the longest rides of his life.  
  
~~  
  
He kicked the door of the castle open. Lex carried Chloe inside. He shouted for his private doctor, who had been called beforehand. One of the servants reached for Chloe, but Lex scowled at him. He was not going to surrender his burden to anyone. He made his way up the stairs, afraid all the while of the passive limpness of Chloe in his arms.  
  
He laid her gently on the bed and sat down beside her. When the doctor walked inside, he did not acknowledge him. He held her hand and waited while Chloe was turned to her side. The doctor unveiled the wound, and Lex flinched at sight of blood.  
  
"Why don't you wash up, Lex?" the doctor asked. Lex detected the concern in the man's voice. After all, they had known each other since his wild college days. They knew each other as much as brothers did.  
  
"I'm not leaving," Lex answered curtly.  
  
The older man shook his head. "You're not doing her any good."  
  
"I won't leave a person that I love when she's in this condition. I did that once and I'm still regretting it." He waited for the doctor to finish cleaning the wound and bandaging it. Lex stood and took Chloe's blouse off. Gingerly, he put her in a silk pajama top that he had lying on the table.  
  
"Your fiance is in the hospital, Lex," the doctor reminded him.  
  
"My fiance's right here," he answered. The older man did not ask questions. He knew Lex well enough to know when not to question. "Why is she so hot? It's a wound."  
  
"There's an infection," came the answer. "It's a shallow wound, but I don't have the means to effectively drain the infection. When the fever breaks though, you'll know that she's going to be fine."  
  
Lex nodded. "I owe you," he began.  
  
The doctor stopped him. "It doesn't have to be said." He laid a hand on Lex's shoulder on his way out.  
  
It was the next morning when Lex woke up to the feel of Chloe's fingertips dancing on his cheek. He gave her a sleepy grin.  
  
"I never keep you safe," he told her. Before she could deny his statement, Lex continued, "And I've learned something about myself other than that."  
  
"What is it?"  
  
Lex opened the drawer beside him. He showed her a thin gold necklace with a very simple diamond ring as pendant. "I learned that I'm not as noble as I pretend to be when I'm with you. I won't sacrifice my happiness anymore."  
  
Chloe bit her lip and reached for the ring. "We have a plan?"  
  
"I have an idea," he admitted. "We'll work on it further. We'll only have to wait for a few more weeks before everything's the way it should be, Chloe. Do you believe in that?"  
  
"I believe in you," she answered. "What's a few more weeks in exchange for a lifetime?"  
  
Lex smiled and nodded. "Now we've got to talk about the stubbornness that almost got you killed. Again." His hand tightened around hers.  
  
"You take me, Lex; you take my stubbornness," she reminded him. "It's a package deal."  
  
"I can live with that." 


	42. Witness the Unveiling

WITNESS THE UNVEILING  
  
Chloe's side burned. She was still feeling lousy and irritable, but she knew she had to go to school. There was no way that she could excuse her stab wound. If she told her father that she was going to miss classes and the Torch, her dad would get her to go to the doctor. He was still at that stage when every little hurt brought back memories of the parasite. Chloe was not going to let any doctor examine her to discover that she had that wound at her side.  
  
She imaged herself saying, "I'm sorry, doctor. That was clumsy lil ole me, slipping the kitchen knife directly into my body."  
  
Chloe had too much on her plate to have to face a round of sessions on suicidal teens.  
  
It served to reason that she could be very upset when what she counted on did not happen. She expected something done right, and gave it to her best friend because she trusted him. She hauled herself out of her sick bed to lay out the Torch, only to find herself faced with a large white hole because Clark did not submit on time.  
  
Chloe stalked around the school looking for Clark. She knew that she was pulling at her stitches, but did not mind. The important thing was to confirm that Clark really did not submit, so she could set to work on a last minute article. She was going to run a fever.  
  
She had given up hope of ever finding him. Chloe decided to get a cup of coffee to calm her frayed nerves. When she saw him with Lana in the Talon, Chloe's temper flared. It was one thing to be in love. She was in love too. It was another thing to completely forget about your responsibilities. If she and Lex did that, Smallville would be run to the ground because of the downfall of the fertilizer plant.  
  
"Clark, what happened to you?" she demanded, placing her bag on the counter. Of course, Clark Kent appeared dazed by how much Chloe was fuming. She shook her head. "Story deadline. Stop me when I'm getting warm."  
  
Clark's eyes widened. "My article about the debate team. Oh, Chloe, I'm really sorry. I got caught up helping Lana. I'll give it to you first thing tomorrow morning."  
  
"Unfortunately, I needed it tonight."  
  
She had no time to talk to the two. Chloe had the information she needed. Chloe grabbed her bag and headed back out the Talon. She was going back to school, then typing something. anything. She had to produce an article so she wouldn't have to resort to blowing up the lunch menu.  
  
She arrived at the school when it was almost deserted. As always, she was going to stay until the late hours for the school paper. She took a deep breath and released it slowly, urging herself not to cry. She lacked sleep and she felt awful. Now aside from the physical twinges of pain, Chloe was beside herself with regret. She yelled at her best friend. And her best friend abandoned her. He wasn't even there when she got hurt, like he had always been. At the back of her mind she knew that she couldn't blame Clark for it, but she couldn't help feeling like everything changed for the worse.  
  
Clark was in love with Lana. She knew that. She had known it for a long time and made her peace with it. But now Clark was actually sacrificing their friend. He broke a promise to her to be with Lana Lang. Nothing knew except Chloe wasn't even sure of who she was and what was going to happen to her anymore. She wasn't first Gabe's daughter and then Clark and Pete's friend. She recognized that.  
  
Chloe was a whole other person who was so insecure about her place in the hearts of the people she loved. Even as a child, Chloe recognized that although her father adored her beyond anything else, Gabe Sullivan was a task-oriented man focused on his work. She took a backseat. Clark and Pete were moving on with their lives, as was she. The man she loved assured her every day of his commitment to her but was proposing something that scared her, no matter how much she trusted him.  
  
The light was on at the Torch office. Chloe opened the door and was surprised to see Lex inside. She slipped into the office and closed the door behind her.  
  
"Hey. What are you doing here?"  
  
Lex smiled at her from her desk. He closed his laptop and stood up. "I want you to take your blouse off," he told her smoothly, sitting at the edge of the table.  
  
"Oh Lex. Not again!"  
  
"You know there was a time when you wouldn't rebel at that suggestion."  
  
Chloe walked towards him, stopping when she was standing between his knees. "I had something better to look forward to then." Even while complaining, her fingers undid the buttons of her blouse.  
  
"It's for your benefit," Lex informed her, helping her take her arms out of the sleeves. "Don't you believe I can look at this medically? I want to see."  
  
Chloe presented her side to him. Lex carefully removed the bandage. "That's what I'm afraid of."  
  
He chuckled and pulled her in for a kiss. Lex inspected the wound, seeing if it's clean or if there were any signs of inspection. Chloe saw him reach for a small bag that he had brought with him. "So how was your day?" he asked, taking her attention away from his ministrations.  
  
Chloe flinched when she felt something like cold cream being applied on the edges of the wound. "I know I opened it up," she admitted. His touch was gentle, but it still hurt. "I have been so depressed the whole day. Clark. My dad. Us."  
  
Lex was silent while he finished dressing the wound. And then, he helped her into her blouse again. He touched her lips and nodded. "Just hold on, okay?"  
  
Chloe nodded. "I'm holding on."  
  
"Good." He kissed her on the lips. "It's the best that we can do right now. Just think of how much happier we'll be when this is through."  
  
"My father will definitely get mad. You won't have a father-in-law to answer to," Chloe warned him.  
  
Lex considered the sadness in her eyes, and decided to keep it light. "It seems only fair. I got rid of your father-in-law for you."  
  
~~  
  
Lex had never been more at peace with a decision his entire life. He went home with a spring in his step that had never been there before he was reunited with Chloe. He was going to the bank in Metropolis the next day and opening the Luthor vault. Lillian Luthor's wedding ring would see the light of day again, and grace another beautiful woman's finger.  
  
The plan was hurried and brash, but Lex knew it was the most intelligent one he had ever thought of. After all, a wedding between himself and Chloe was imminent. This was only a matter of accelerating those plans. As long as his father had no idea about his plans, he and Chloe were safe. While Lionel stayed away, Lex had the assurance that he suspected nothing beyond the Helen Bryce scheme that he was fed.  
  
Lex threw the doors open to his study. The keys were in his drawer, and he wanted to be prepared so that he could leave the minute he dropped Chloe off at the school tomorrow.  
  
"Lex."  
  
The voice paralyzed him, because it meant one thing. Lex looked up to see his father at the landing.  
  
"It's been too long."  
  
"And I thought we agreed to keep face to face contact to a minimum."  
  
Lionel closed the book that he had been pretending to read. "For business perhaps. This is a social call." He made his way down the steps. "I've come to offer my congratulations on your engagement."  
  
The way that Lionel had stressed the last word prickled at Lex's danger sense. He decided to play it out with Lionel, hoping that his father did not know of another level to what he was saying.  
  
"I admit, I ummmm, well it hurt that I had to learn of your pending nuptials via the gossip pages of the Inquisitor."  
  
Lex chuckled dryly, relieving the tension in his chest. "Come on, Dad. Since when has my personal happiness ever been of the slightest interest to you?"  
  
Lionel headed to the bar and poured himself a drink. "So where is uhhhh ummmm."  
  
"Helen," Lex provided.  
  
The older man smirked and turned to his son. Lex knew right then, with Lionel's pregnant glance, that his father knew, and the plan was teetering in the balance. Lionel raised his glance to Lex. "Helen. Sure. Hmmm?"  
  
Lex's voice held an edgy quality. He told his father, "Helen's out of town at a medical seminar. Otherwise, I suspect your visit would be putting her anger management techniques to the test."  
  
The chuckle that Lionel let out then troubled Lex. Every grating sound seemed to whisper in Lex's ear, 'Bullshit. Bull bull bull shit, son.'  
  
Lex saw his father looking at an article on his desk. He had made a habit of cutting out Chloe's writings and compiling them. He figured that his child would want to read some of the things that its mother had written years before. "But then, we both know you're not here to discuss my wedding plans." Lex latched at the idea. He did not need to hide Chloe. He had to put her out in the open. If Lionel saw that Lex did not seem bent in keeping her off limits, he would doubt whatever suspicion he had about Chloe.  
  
"What is this?" Lionel read the printout. "Oh Lex. I'm surprised that you would put stock in the reportage of a high school newspaper."  
  
Lex forced himself to carry on. "I usually don't. But I did some checking of my own, and lo and behold: It's true. What are you moving around in the middle of the night in unmarked trucks?" Put Lionel Luthor on the defensive and maybe, just maybe, he would forget how to attack.  
  
"Nothing out of the ordinary."  
  
Lex breathed more easily. He had succeeded in veering Lionel away from the topic of his marriage. It did not bother him that his father was staring too intently at the piece of paper that had Chloe's name on it until his father swallowed another drink and said, "Give my regards to. ummm. uhhhh."  
  
The grasping was for effect. His father was baiting him.  
  
"Your fiancée," Lionel finished, leaving the vague title to unsettle Lex. Lionel strode out of the room.  
  
~~  
  
The office was a mess. The furniture have been destroyed and the computers smashed. Chloe walked around the office, picking up knick knacks that meant nothing to the property custodian but everything to the Torch. Chloe knelt to get some of the papers from the floor.  
  
"Miss Sullivan."  
  
She would have recognized the voice anywhere. Chloe quickly stood up and saw Lionel Luthor standing in the center of her plundered office.  
  
"Mr. Luthor."  
  
"Your principal told me you might be here. I hope I'm not interrupting you."  
  
Chloe felt as if she were bring measured by the way that Lionel's eyes raked her from head to toe. "No, no. I mean. I'm-I've never entertained a billionaire before."  
  
"I'm sure you have." He looked around at the damage while Chloe considered what he meant by the statement.  
  
She had to believe that Lionel meant nothing. Chloe wore the cloak of the high school reporter. It was the safest character she could manage with the man. "You'll have to excuse the destruction. I was recently vandalized."  
  
Lionel nodded sympathetically. "So I heard. By the same men who hijacked my truck, I think."  
  
"Eric Marsh owned up to the robbery of the truck and assault. He said he didn't have anything to do with the Torch."  
  
Suddenly, the chips felt into the right slots. Chloe looked at Lionel Luthor, and considered her presence in her office, of the reasons why he would bother to come.  
  
"Well, it's not easy to understand the criminal mind."  
  
In Lionel's eyes, Chloe read the warning that accompanied his sentence. It was undoubtedly a threat against her.  
  
"I'll come to the point, Miss Sullivan. I'd like to help you rebuild. I've instructed the LuthorCorp Foundation to make a donation to your school--the funds are specifically earmarked toward rebuilding and updating the journalism department."  
  
She felt ice form around her heart. Lionel Luthor knew. "The struggling editor in me wants to just leave it at "Thank You" but...the journalist in me has to ask "Why?"  
  
"I'm impressed with your." A grin that knew too much. "Willingness to explore alternative ideas, options. We're after the same thing, Miss Sullivan--the truth. You know, um, journalists are the midwives of history. Perhaps, with my help, we could, uh... make history together."  
  
Chloe took the card that Lionel handed to her. She watched Lex's father leave. Chloe took out her phone and with trembling fingers, dialed Lex's number.  
  
"Chloe," Lex answered on the other line. He heard her gasping breathing. "Chloe, what's wrong? Is it your side? Does it hurt?"  
  
"Lex," she said quietly, sniffling, "Lex, your father was here. Your father is following me, Lex."  
  
"Chloe, calm down. Where are you?"  
  
"At the Torch! And I think he had my office vandalized to have a reason to come to me, Lex. He knows."  
  
"Calm down, Chloe. I'll be right there. Trust me. He won't ever be able to hurt you," he assured her. "Just stay put and I will be there before you can even count to ten."  
  
Lex opened the door of the Torch office to find Chloe sitting on the floor at the center of the ruins. He sat in front of her and waited until she moved closer. Lex wrapped his arms around her and whispered, "We'll think of something else. We always do." 


	43. Accelerate the Plans

Thanks for the feedback that I continue to receive despite the long hiatus of this fic. The rest of the S2 Chlexville eps will be pretty short, although hopefully over with soon. Still excited about S3 (  
  
ACCELERATE THE PLANS  
  
They had agreed to act as if nothing was different, as if anything that Lionel thought he knew was baseless. The best way to do this, according to Lex, was to do everything their contemporaries this. Chloe had been dubious. When before she was never one to be part of the usual, for her to act like a normal teenager now screamed too much of a charade. His faith in this was too strong that she finally gave him what he wanted. Though initially unwilling, Chloe had agreed to go on the movie night that Lana had invited her to.  
  
He reminded her before she went that she was just a student, with none of the Lex-related problems that had been plaguing her. However she was still occupied the entire time. Vaguely, she realized that Clark and Lana held hands during the time that she was composing a message for Lex. Hoping that no one would comment on the eerie glow of her mobile, she typed, 'What now?' Chloe only paid attention to the two when they jumped guiltily in their seats.  
  
The response was longer and swifter than she expected. Lex was using his email-length text software, was her stray thought.  
  
'Chloe,  
  
I know we said that this plan is extreme, and that we would not even consider this if we had more choices. But we don't. Every moment that you spend pretending that your skin doesn't crawl at his propositions is one moment that I'm fit to tear my hair out, if I had any.  
  
I'm racking my brain for another way. It eludes me until now. If we're stuck with this plan, will you be able to handle it?'  
  
Chloe stood up and muttered an apology. Lana flushed and looked at her. Chloe did not pay attention to her. She knew that distress meant that Lana thought Chloe's abrupt exit was due to the hand-locking sight that she was presented. Carrying her phone with her, Chloe made her way outside. Her fingers moved swiftly across the keypad.  
  
'You know I don't want this. Don't ask me that question again.'  
  
It was not a minute later when her phone vibrated in her pocket. She read the response.  
  
'I know it's hell. I'm just encouraging myself by images of what can be after all this is done. If there was any way I could spare you...'  
  
With a shake of her head, Chloe replied, 'Not likely. We're in this together.' Belatedly, she remembered to send another message. 'So let's do this as fast as we can.'  
  
~~  
  
Lex looked down at the tickets in his hands. A Carribean honeymoon, Lionel had said, for him and his bride Helen. It was his way of apologizing for having ever given them a hard time. Of course, Lex was skeptical. He was more than skeptical actually. He knew that it was all bullshit.  
  
His father was well aware of Lex's relationship with Chloe Sullivan. Lionel was baiting him. The mask was so thin yet so firmly in place though. Had his and Chloe's scheme really worked? They needed to go as far as they could, and the wedding was part of the huge plot to throw Lionel off his scent.  
  
Was he willing to believe that Lionel Luthor had given up that quickly? He knew his father too well. After handing Lex his wedding gift, Lionel had told him that he had important matters to address, and left the manor. Lex picked up the phone and dialed the number stamped in his brain.  
  
"Where are you right now?" A pause. "Wait for me," he said, his intonation one of question. She was never one to speak to as though he was commanding. It would be his end.  
  
Within fifteen minutes, Lex Luthor stood in front of his approaching father in the hospital third floor waiting area. Lex plastered a smirk on his face and met Lionel halfway.  
  
"It's a surprise seeing you here. You're not sick," Lex commented.  
  
"Neither are you, son," came Lionel easy answer.  
  
"I'm waiting for someone. I assume you are too," Lex said, his voice tinged with coldness.  
  
The door in front of them opened, and two very different women stepped out. Both stiffened at the sight of the elder Luthor. Helen easily fell beside Lex. Chloe stood a bit behind them.  
  
"I actually wanted to see her," Lionel responded, not specifying whom. "Guarding your fiancé against me, son? I'm hurt."  
  
Chloe cleared her throat and gave them a tentative smile. She passed between the two sides. When she was within arm's reach, Chloe was greeted by Lionel. "Hello, Ms Sullivan. Leaving so soon?"  
  
Chloe did not meet his eyes, merely walked resolutely by. 


	44. Calling a Spade a Spade

CALLING A SPADE A SPADE  
  
Chloe watched the silver moonbeam playing on her fingers as she moved her hand. She was fascinated by that light. It was such soft sunlight without the burn, the heat, the pain. She loved the moonlight especially tonight. She held her hand palm up to the light and felt the warmth of the body spooned behind hers. Lex's hand covered hers, entwining his fingers with hers. She looked fondly at the moonbeam as it settled on his skin.  
  
Lex's lips touched the back of her shoulder. "Hey," he whispered into her ear, sending a thrill down her spine. "Can't sleep?"  
  
She smiled at the husky voice. "And I can't understand why not. We certainly had a very exhausting activity."  
  
"We did," he agreed. She felt his answering grin against her nape. He breathed in the scent of her hair.  
  
"You should know, huh, sleepyhead?"  
  
Chloe squealed when Lex caught her by the shoulders and pressed her back to him. "Are you in any way," he challenged playfully, "insinuating that I am weak compared to you?"  
  
She giggled when he rolled onto his back, taking her along with him. She lay fully on top of him. "I said no such thing!"  
  
Lex laughed fully, and rolled onto his opposite side, causing her to lie on her back. Chloe chuckled and grinned, eyes sparkling and playful. He placed a kiss on her forehead.  
  
She had expected more from a frisky Lex. A tad frustrated, she muttered, "Grandpa."  
  
He looked shocked at first, then shook his head. Lex kissed each of her eyelids, then the tip of her nose. He teased the sides of her lips. "Unbelievable! Was I so stupid before to think that I have a modicum of control over you?"  
  
She gave him a very pleased smile, like a sated cat. "Not stupid, no," she assured him. "You just could not resist my allure."  
  
"Your allure, huh?"  
  
"Agree with me or I'll strangle you in your own bed."  
  
Lex grinned. "Your allure was part of it. Mostly, I think, it's just because I was amazingly in love with you."  
  
Chloe blushed and caught the face above hers with both hands. "Well isn't that a coincidence?"  
  
"What is?" he asked, although he had a pretty good idea. It never hurt to hear it for the hundredth time in a day.  
  
"I'm amazingly fabulously in love with you too." She pulled his face down so she could press her lips to his. "Difference is that I don't let you push me around."  
  
"Aha!" Lex gasped. "You admit to pushing me around."  
  
"I wouldn't have been able to if you didn't let me."  
  
Lex nodded, as if he believed it himself. "Although you are the only person I allow to do that. Other women would not even think that."  
  
Chloe almost choked on her snort. "Lex, have you forgotten Desiree?"  
  
"I was under a spell... or mutant freak effect," was his convenient answer.  
  
"Victoria?"  
  
"She was a convincing actress."  
  
Chloe rolled her eyes. "Either way, you're done with all those conniving harlots. You're sticking with me."  
  
"Didn't know I could feel so comfortable with the thought of tying myself down forever. Desiree again not included for the obvious reasons." He settled down beside her on the bed. "I hope everything goes by without a hitch."  
  
She nodded. "God, I cannot believe we were lucky enough to have found someone who's genuinely willing to help us with this sham."  
  
He wrapped his arm around her and kissed her temple. "Are you sure you're not coming, Chloe? We know it's not legal. Maybe it will comfort you to watch it happen, and to know that with each step, we're getting closer to escaping my father."  
  
Chloe shook her head. "I don't want to see," she said softly.  
  
"All right. All right, Chloe." He kissed her on the lips. "Right after the wedding, I'm taking Helen back to Boston. And then I will meet you at the LexCorp helipad. Pack your bags, okay?"  
  
~~  
  
"Is everything prepared?"  
  
Helen looked around the hospital to see if anyone was within earshot. Seeing some of the nurses glancing her way, most likely curious about the soon-to-be-Mrs. Luthor, Helen stepped into her office.  
  
"You'd better make sure of it. I want this to be grand," she said into the phone.  
  
She grinned. "And the minister has been replaced with the real thing? Good. No, he won't suspect a thing. The summa cum laude is so in love with a schoolgirl that I doubt he would notice a thing. And the girl is the same thing. Such a pity that two obviously smart people have their judgments so clouded."  
  
Helen sat behind her desk and pulled open the drawer. She picked out a folder and browsed through the list of assets. She hummed in delight. "To think that all of this would be mine." Helen kissed the figure at the bottom, numbers that told her everything she would be worth. 


	45. Exodus of Lovers

EXODUS OF LOVERS  
  
Chloe would not dare close her eyes. Once upon a time, she could not help but squeeze her eyes shut to revel in the sensations that his touch brought. Tonight, everything was different. The urgency was heightened, for no reason at all, she told herself. Everything between them was the same. Yet from the moment he slipped inside her, Lex held his gaze as though there was nothing else in the universe except for him and Chloe. The room did not exist. Smallville did not exist. Even the sheets they were lying on did not exist. The two of them were the only entities floating magically amidst the stars.  
  
She gasped with each pure reaction that burned through her body. His movements were slow, and he possessed her in the way she loved so much. Lex's eyes never left hers, not even when he intertwined their fingers and brought her arms above her head. There, he held them fast. She lay completely exposed to him, bare and glowing in the moonlight they both adored.  
  
Even then, in her naked abandon, his eyes never left hers.  
  
She could see how close he was. Lex's jaw was tight, and Chloe felt the change in his thrusts. He was moving with uneven force, a slightly more erratic pace. His lucid gaze was clouded by the feelings rushing over him. Chloe's hands tightened on his until their fists were against the headboard. All her feelings coalesced into a tempest pooling in the depth of her belly.  
  
And her gaze strayed from his.  
  
When finally, the stars converged inside her body, and exploded magnificently in hot, viscous languor, Chloe's vision went white. A sigh escaped her. But her eyes were still on his.  
  
Lex held none of himself back. He gave her everything until he had none left. Spent, he collapsed on top of her, gasping for breath. His open lips lay on her cheek. But even his sightless regard was trained on her.  
  
~~  
  
The sun was high, but she did not rise. Smallville was beautiful and interesting, but that day, there was nothing in particular that would have hauled her off the nest she had created of her bed. The knock on her door was best ignored. She rolled and pressed her face into the mattress.  
  
"Sweetheart, open up!"  
  
Chloe pretended to sleep. If she did not answer, then her dad would go away. Suddenly, the bed shifted and she rolled a bit to the right. Chloe shoved the pillow away and frowned at her father.  
  
Gabe Sullivan grinned sadly at her. "You don't really think I would believe that my very active daughter would still be asleep at this time of day? You're a reporter, Chloe. I know you won't sleep through the biggest wedding event of the year."  
  
That stung. She shrugged and sat up. "I just felt like sleeping in," she reasoned. Chloe scurried out of bed and padded towards her closet. She pulled open the door and started rummaging for street clothes.  
  
"Chloe, you don't have to pretend with me."  
  
Chloe's movements faltered. She forced levity in her voice when she responded, "What do you mean, dad?"  
  
Gabe walked to his daughter and squeezed her shoulder. "I don't know what happened between today and the last time I talked to Lex. I know relationships are hard. But I also know that even if you broke up with him without my knowledge, you'd still be hurting because of this."  
  
"Everything's fine, dad." Chloe was handling herself well, and she was proud of herself. However, Chloe was shocked to find out that she wasn't as cool as she believed she was. When she felt her dad brush a kiss on her temple, her eyes moistened.  
  
Gabe saw her reaction and pulled her close to his body. "I know that. You're my tough girl." She swiftly turned in his arms and hugged her father around the waist. Gabe told her gently, "I love you, baby girl. No matter what. Daddy loves you."  
  
Chloe tightened her arms around her father. She had never been younger than she was then. She allowed herself to smile for the first time that day and sighed, "I love you, daddy."  
  
She was luckiest in her father, who stayed with her and kept her cherished despite the odds that faced him. When her mother left, it would have been so easy for Gabe to raise her without the amount of attention and guidance he had given her. Had Chloe not turned out to be a good person, people would have blamed his wife.  
  
She relished the feel of her father's protection around her. For those precious moments she forgot her role in ensuring that Lionel Luthor would erase all suspicions about his son and her. The visit to Lionel would come later. This noon was time for the Sullivans.  
  
~~  
  
Lex accepted the glass from Helen and toasted to the completion of their arrangement. She was a truly lovely woman, he thought, when Helen smiled graciously back at him.  
  
"I just know that this is the beginning of an entirely new life," Helen said.  
  
Lex could not agree more. "This would not have been possible if not for you, Helen. Chloe and I cannot thank you enough." Lex took her hand and kissed her knuckles in gratitude. "Should you ever need anything—"  
  
The doctor's eyes sparkled when she shook her head. "Oh I'm certain I will never lack for anything, Lex."  
  
Lex's heart was full with content. It was done. He would go back and take Chloe away. First though, he needed to ascertain that he had covered all his bases. Right then, his father was at peace with the knowledge that Lex was away on his honeymoon. If in the hospital, Lionel still suspected that there was one huge cover up, Lex was sure that it no longer existed in Lionel's mind. While Lex set his affairs in order so that Lionel would not be able to touch his businesses, Lionel would leave Chloe alone.  
  
Like any creature sated, Lex began to feel drowsy. He smiled again at the stranger who was his and Chloe's angel, the woman who made everything possible. He never thought she was a great beauty, but now, after all that she had done, Helen Bryce to him was astoundingly beautiful. He needed to express his gratitude one more time. "You will make a lovely bride, Helen."  
  
As Lex drifted off to sleep, he saw the doctor merely nod and smile in acknowledgment. Lex slipped into a land of dreams, to visit a world with Chloe that he knew would soon come true.  
  
End Season 2 


	46. Exiled Heart

EXILED HEART  
  
There was something about a cup of coffee while sitting alone in one corner of a café. Her thoughts were hers alone, and no one bothered to intrude. She had set up a wall around herself that everyone who knew her respected. Chloe Sullivan was left alone as she sipped her drink and gripped the ends of the newspaper in her hands. Lana Lang had approached her to deliver her order earlier. Other than Lana, no one dared come close. Chloe had to thank the girl. She had to admit that the last three months almost entirely changed the way she looked at the town's favorite girl.  
  
Two days after the wedding, Chloe had been inside her room hurriedly packing her bags. She was about to meet Lex in the Luthor helipad, the way they planned. Lana had walked in and seen Chloe's preparations.  
  
Chloe had stopped and met Lana's gaze without speaking. She was surprised when Lana had waved at her and said, "I just need my pen." Lana had walked in, grabbed her pen from her desk and left.  
  
That night, Chloe had sat on the rooftop of the LuthorCorp plant and waited for Lex. She had waited until about four in the morning until she surmised that Lex was not going to come. Wearily she had dragged her bag back down and when she got to her parked car, she saw Lana Lang sitting on the hood with a blanket clutched around her shoulders.  
  
"What are you doing here?"  
  
Lana had smiled and handed her the blanket. "I thought you'd need someone else to drive you home. You've got to be tired."  
  
Chloe had taken the blanket in confusion and watched Lana haul her bag to the backseat. She did not ask how Lana knew where she was. She had just been grateful. Chloe had fallen asleep on the passenger seat. After she woke up the morning after, there was no doubt in her mind that Lana likely knew. After all, she and her father had spoken about it when they had thought they were alone. It was no great leap to assume that Lana had heard one of those conversations.  
  
Up to today, three months later, Lana had been a silent supporter. They had an unspoken agreement to never voice the subject. Lana made certain that Chloe would be protected in the circus that would inevitably follow by keeping the secret.  
  
Chloe felt a gentle touch on her shoulder. She turned to see Martha Kent beside her. Chloe immediately turned the paper over.  
  
"Chloe, I need to know if Clark tried to contact you."  
  
Chloe shook her head. Lana arrived to usher Martha to the counter by asking questions related to the runaway boy. When they were out of earshot, Chloe again read the words on the Inquisitor that she had managed to get from her father. She covered her mouth with one trembling hand.  
  
RIP Lex, Search Called Off – Funeral Friday  
  
After Martha had left the Talon still brokenhearted, Lana walked over to Chloe's corner again. She said in front of the blonde reporter and cocked her head.  
  
"Your dad said you spend the entire afternoon in the Planet." Lana placed the a new mug of coffee in front of Chloe.  
  
Chloe reached instead for a wad of tissues to dry her eyes with. She shrugged. "Can we have lunch?"  
  
Lana looked at Chloe apprehensively before answering. She tried to find the right words. "I can't. With... Lex gone—"  
  
"Okay," Chloe cut her off. She did not need reminders when the entire world seemed bent on telling her that he was dead. She nodded. "If you need a ride, I'm always available."  
  
"I'm sorry about Mrs. Kent. I knew you needed your privacy."  
  
Chloe shook her head. "She lost a son."  
  
"You may have written him off but I can't give up hope."  
  
"He made a conscious decision to leave his friends, his family and the girl he claimed to love." Sometimes, Chloe thought, she wished that that was what Lex had done. If she only believed, then maybe she wouldn't hurt this badly. Clark had chosen to leave. He had every opportunity to come back. She closed her burning eyes. "I worry about you."  
  
Lana's hand closed around Chloe's. "I'm the last person you need to worry about," she said firmly.  
  
In her eyes, Chloe read concern. It was odd and comforting at the same time. They used to hurt because of each other. Now, they were each other's best friends, just because they both lost people they loved. "We need to move on," Chloe said faintly, unwillingly.  
  
"Clark is just waiting for the right person to find him." Chloe nodded. Lana continued, "So does Lex."  
  
And with three small words, Lana Lang revived the hope that Chloe did not want to name inside her.  
  
~~  
  
Chloe did not know if she was yet ready. Her heart was still burning with loathing at the old man. Lionel Luthor was the cause of that ill-fated flight. At the same time, Chloe could not help but feel sympathy for the man. He had lost a son. Despite the evil that Lionel was, she could not deny that everything Lionel did could be construed as his need to strengthen his Lex.  
  
She walked into the caves below Smallville after Lionel called for the meeting. She wondered if there was yet some part of Lionel that suspected the truth. After the entire wedding charade that caused Lex his life, did Lionel still believe that she was the young woman that Lex was protecting? There was only one way to find out.  
  
"Mr. Luthor?" she called out. "Mr. Luthor?"  
  
Chloe turned around a few times. It seemed as if she were alone. Chloe's heart skipped when she saw Lionel. "I got your message," she said. "I admit I was surprised to hear that you wanted to meet today considering the fact tomorrow is Lex's—"She did not want to say the word. Chloe was glad when Lionel cut her short.  
  
"My son is gone, Ms Sullivan," Lionel said. Chloe shifted her weight from one ball of her foot to another. Lionel's eyes bore into her even deeper that before. "There is nothing I can do now but put his memory to rest and get on with the business of living."  
  
Was that advice she heard? Chloe sought to ignore his words. Right now, she would accept everyone's saying that Lex was dead. She would agree and if necessary, converse. Yet deep inside she knew that Lex was alive, even when she cried when the sheer truth overwhelmed her.  
  
"You haven't seen your young friend, have you?"  
  
"I'd be the last person he'd call," she answered.  
  
"You know, Chloe, your enthusiasm for our project seems to be waning. Is something wrong? I'd hate to see this opportunity vanish."  
  
"Threatening me, Mr. Luthor, isn't gonna make Clark magically reappear."  
  
Lionel sighed sadly and touched Chloe's cheek. She saw the briefest hint of sadness in his eyes. "Chloe, all decisions have consequences. I just don't want you to have to deal with them so prematurely."  
  
Chloe swallowed nervously. Every encounter with Lex's father unsettled her. This conversation was by far the most befuddling. Lionel wanted more information on Clark. That much was crystal clear. However, there were tinges of another emotion she could not name. For the same time, Chloe could feel Lionel Luthor warring inside himself. At the moment, she would store it as a result of Lex's disappearance.  
  
~~  
  
Her face was so cold, yet at the same time her cheeks burned. This was the one thing she never thought, never imagined, she would do. As the crowd moved around and chattered, she brushed her fingers over the name etched into the tombstone.  
  
"Ms. Sullivan, take your place," came the quiet command in her ear.  
  
Chloe straightened quickly and blinked away her tears. She saw Lionel Luthor walk by her, barely stopping to glance her way. He spoke to the people gathered for the funeral. Chloe quickly found a seat beside her father. Gabe wrapped an arm around her shoulders. She and Lana had spoken about the proper way to move and act on this occasion, so that no one would suspect. Now, at that precise moment, everything flew from her mind. Chloe could only lean against her father and lay her head on his shoulder as she watched Lionel capture his audience.  
  
"I think the cruelest fate that a parent can suffer is to lose a child," he said. Chloe closed her eyes and allowed Lionel's voice to blanket her as he spoke about Lex. She smiled briefly as she saw her in her mind's eye, comforting her when they found out that she was really not pregnant. "Lex was touched with greatness. We'd only begun to see that potential." She imagined him when he spoke in front of his employees, calm and determined, a born leader. "I—I can only imagine the heights he would have soared to if his life... hadn't been... cut short so tragically." No matter how hard she tried not to allow it, a tear slipped from Chloe's eye. His greatness was having a family with her. That was his dream.  
  
Her chest was constricted and she found that she could not breathe properly anymore. Chloe stood up quickly and rushed away from the crowd. She heaved dryly onto the grass. She could still faintly hear Lionel speak, "I would've searched for a thousand years if I thought he could be found. We can't hold on to the past. In my heart, I will be searching for my son forever."  
  
'So will I,' she whispered.  
  
"So will I," said a woman's voice.  
  
Chloe turned around so suddenly that she became dizzy. She saw Helen Bryce carrying flowers approach Lex's tombstone. Chloe stepped forward. She had so many questions about what went wrong with their grand scheme.  
  
Lionel met Chloe's eyes briefly, then turned to Helen. "If you're here to grandstand for the paparazzi, I will have you escorted out."  
  
"I wish to pay my last respects to my husband."  
  
Lionel gritted his teeth. "Then, Mrs. Luthor, allow me to leave before the hypocrisy begins."  
  
He stalked away from the doctor and headed towards Chloe. Before Chloe could speak, Lionel took her by her arm and led her away from the crowd. Lionel's men converged around them so that no one could see what had occurred.  
  
~~  
  
'What makes you think you still have a chance out there?' the voice in his mind asked him.  
  
"Because my life is not here," he answered.  
  
He was dragged bodily up from the sand. "Well, buddy, you're lucky. Not a lot of people get a second chance like this. Good thing my captain saw your fire!"  
  
He stumbled to his feet, gasping for breath. He was going back to—  
  
"So what's your name, mon?"  
  
He shook his head.  
  
"Aight. Where we s'posed to take you?"  
  
"I don't know," he rasped. 


	47. Running Out of Phoenix

RUNNING OUT OF PHOENIX  
  
Her hands were trembling as she took the glass that Lionel offered. Chloe closed two hands around it and nursed it with a small sip. When the fiery liquid burned down her throat, Chloe coughed. She gave the glass back to Lionel.  
  
"Look, Mr. Luthor, there is nothing else I could possibly offer you," she began. He had drawn her away from the crowd, away from Helen, not an hour earlier. If he wanted to know more about Clark, she would have to say no again. It would not even be just because she had nothing more to say. She just could think of anything anymore. Not today. Not after that experience.  
  
Lionel took the glass and put it on his desk. He then looked out his broken window. "It doesn't occur to you that we have more than that to talk about?" he asked the girl.  
  
Chloe closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Lex did not protect their secret only to have her spilling everything just because she was so tired of the lie.  
  
"Abraham threw Isaac on the pyre to prove his faith to God."  
  
Chloe's lips parted, but her eyes remained closed. She could not dare hope. If she expected it too much, her heart would once again be trampled on the ground.  
  
Yet the same voice came again. "What was your excuse?"  
  
Both Chloe and Lionel turned towards the hooded new arrival. Only Lionel found his power of speech. "Lex?"  
  
Like a mirage suddenly come alive, Lex walked into the room and pulled the hood back. His cold gaze settled on Lionel. He trained the gun on his father. Without looking at Chloe, he said, "Whoever you are, I suggest you get out of here now."  
  
Chloe covered her mouth with her hand as she drank in the sight of Lex, after months of hoping and dying inside, standing in front of her and not even sparing her a look, a touch. She walked backwards towards the door.  
  
"Son," Lionel said. He watched Chloe leave, and then looked at Lex again. "Put the gun down."  
  
Lex was empty and full at the same time. He could almost remember, at the very periphery of his memories, that he had once been happy beyond belief. He had loved and been so loved. At the same time, there was one name that hung over his head, the last face he had seen when before the crash. It was Helen. He had to know where she was.  
  
After his conversation with his father, Lex had to answer the questions that overcast his mind. He went to his mansion to wait for the woman who was, for all intents and purposes, his wife.  
  
"Home sweet home."  
  
"Lex... Oh thank God!" Helen turned around and threw her arms around him.  
  
The embrace left him unmoved. Where was the great love he could barely touch? "Trust me. I've done that already. He seems to be the only one on my side lately."  
  
Helen's eyebrows drew together in confusion. "But the rescue was called off. How—"  
  
It was then that he named them—all the schemes and theories that he had worked out. She had to have done something. All the women in his life were out to kill him or hurt him. Helen had to be one of them.  
  
"You don't believe me?" she asked.  
  
Lex could not let go of the emotion that he could associate with her. He loved, and it had to do with the woman in front of him. This feeling, that he remembered when he remembered nothing else, was likely real. "I know you worked for my father. After I gave you the blood back and you apologized, you turned around and sold it to him."  
  
"Your father said if I gave him the blood he'd leave us alone forever. He's playing us against each other."  
  
"We seem to do a good job of that on our own."  
  
Tears rose in her eyes. "If you want to annul this marriage, I'll get out of your life," she said. She turned to leave, then stopped. "But for what it's worth, I do love you."  
  
Lex's jaw tightened.  
  
She was not going to lose this easily. "Before I go," she told him, "I want you to think about a few things. These may not affect you, because you could have just as easily chosen to forget everything between us, but I still want to say them. I can tell myself I tried."  
  
He turned to look directly at her.  
  
Helen walked towards him and took his hand, then pressed her cheek into his palm. "Can you imagine loving someone who had always been your best friend? Can you hear poetry in your head? Can you see us trying, no matter how unsuccessfully, to bake cookies and cakes there in your kitchen?" Helen paused. This was her last effort, and it could easily prove to be against her. "You always told me you'd take care of me," she related. "Whenever I'm hurt, I'd always wake up to find you there." Lex watched the tears streaking down the doctor's face now. "And when I thought I was pregnant, and I asked you to stay away, you stood back and you waited. Then when we found out that I wasn't, you let me cry."  
  
His fingers on her cheek moved so that he could brush away her tears too.  
  
"Do you remember any of that?"  
  
~~  
  
Chloe tucked her backpack under her coat. She sniffled the entire way to the bus station. There was no way she could stay in Smallville—not after what she saw of Lex. She would always be grateful that he was alive and well. Still, to see him every day and to know that he remembered nothing of what they had would be more painful than to lose him completely.  
  
She played back his words to her, and again heard the coldness, the distance that characterized his speech. He had never been indifferent to her—not in love and not in arguments. She would not live with his dispassion.  
  
Chloe paid cash for her ticket and half-ran to the bus that bore the tag PHOENIX. It was the destination bus that was leaving soonest. The earlier she could get away, Chloe figured, the sooner she would heal.  
  
On her way to the line, a heavy body bumped into her. Her bag dropped on the ground and she knelt to pick up the scattered contents. Seeing her pressed powder now shattered brought on another wave of tears. Chloe sobbed while gathering her possessions.  
  
The man who bumped into her cared enough to stop and help her. Chloe quickly inserted everything in her bag.  
  
"Chloe Sullivan?" asked the deep voice.  
  
Chloe looked up and found herself staring into the eyes of Lucas Dunleavy. "Lucas," she breathed. What was he doing there?  
  
Lucas held out a picture that spilled with her things. It was a shot of her and Lex, one of her most hidden secrets. Despite the fact that she needed to forget him, she could not leave with that one remembrance.  
  
"Why are you here?" Lucas demanded, taking in her appearance. "You look like hell. Where's my brother?" He looked around, not believing that Lex would have allowed Chloe such unsafe public transportation, especially in his obviously distressed condition.  
  
Chloe snatched the photograph from Lucas. "He's not here." She closed her bag and stood up. "Now get out of the way. I'll miss my bus."  
  
"Chloe." She walked towards the line. "What's going on?" Lucas grabbed her arm to ask. When she whirled around to face him, Lucas saw her face go pasty white. He slackened his grip on her arm.  
  
Chloe ran to the washroom and bent low over the sink, breathing, heaving. She looked up at herself in the mirror and saw her image weaving. Chloe closed her eyes.  
  
"Sullivan!" she heard Lucas yell from outside. He pounded on the door. "Sullivan, what's going on?! Chloe!"  
  
She took deep calming breaths and told herself that she could handle any obstacle. She would survive. Lex told her she was strong. She would hold on to that.  
  
Chloe walked to the door and stepped out. She gave Lucas a small smile. "Your brother was in an accident. He has no memory of me," she said, simply and to the point.  
  
"And you're leaving," he stated matter-of-factly, but she could detect the sarcasm in his tone. "I never figured you for a quitter."  
  
"You don't know how it feels like."  
  
Lucas wrapped his arm around her shoulders. She was there when Lex took him from the depths of Edge City. Hers was the reason that he listened to when he was embroiled in the Luthor conflict. Whatever happened, and whomever Lex thought he loved now, Lucas knew how his brother felt for this woman. "Show me?" She looked up at him, wondering if she really wanted to take on that pain. "I'll be with you the entire time. Just don't leave him now."  
  
~~  
  
Lionel studied Lex's countenance, figuring out what his son was prepared and equipped for. He listened to the words, but could not find one sign that he should tell his son everything that he had missed.  
  
"—I would have died on that island. All the tests you put me through . . . made me a survivor. If I keep my pride in check I know there's more to learn from you. I was hoping your offer still stands to run LuthorCorp together." Lex continued, "There are so many things I know I'll remember, I need to remember. A lot of them are linked to the plant. I'm glad you've considered this, father."  
  
Sooner or later, Lex would encounter people who would mention his past, and expect Lex to answer. Even if his employees were told not to discuss anything personal with his son, Lex would soon find out. These things had a way a getting out. "I, um, I-I don't want you making a hasty decision, Lex. You've just been through an incredibly traumatic ordeal."  
  
"No. I've learned to trust my instincts."  
  
Lionel scrutinized his son's eyes. Then, he took Lex's hand and shook it. "Good to have you back... son."  
  
Lex embraced his father and closed his eyes. One day, he would remember everything. Perhaps then he would see what he had done wrong for Helen to betray their love the way she did. After everything they had been through, all the things she enumerated and more, how could she forget?  
  
And why, after the terrible betrayal, could he not erase the love he associated with each one of those memories? 


	48. Extinctio Memoria

EXTINCTIO MEMORIA

Lex woke panting. He sat up on the bed, hands fisting on the silk sheets that surrounded him. The dream was rapidly vanishing from his mind, like most nightmares that cowardly haunted you in the night but released its deadly fingers in the light of day.

A thousand confusing images, all of them flooded him as a tsunami in the dead of summer. How insane was it that he was most disturbed when all he had seen was calm and perfection? In the dream, there was

every indication that for once in his life, he was the happiest man who had ever lived.

His free hand searched for the buttons of his silk pyjama top. Slowly, he unfastened them until his shirt was halfway open. Then, he turned his hand so that his palm lay open against his chest.

And there, a heart thumped in strong steady beats.

In that dream, Lex could swear he was in real love--beyond the love that everyone had convinced him he felt with Helen. He had faced the doctor and knew that however strong his emotions were for the woman, there had never been any love there. He was in love with the memory of what he shared with her. That much he would admit to. When she told him all the moments that they shared, and he searched his heart for even a twinge of recollection, then he felt it. Lex missed the feeling. He feared with every dream of the past that he could not completely remember upon waking, he would grow more and more in love with a betrayal.

"Helen," he rasped, "leave my heart alone."

In another room of the castle, an elder Luthor leaned forward as he talked on the phone. "All right, doctor," he decided, his voice ringing with finality. "I'll have Lex stop by for an examinaton by the end of the week.

"All right, Doctor, I'll have Lex stop by for an examination by the end of the week. All right. He has unfinished

business to remember."

The next day, Lex sat in front of his father as Lionel enumerated the perks that Lex would enjoy upon his return to the fold.

"I appreciate the gesture, but I'm not here to enjoy the scenery. I'm here to generate profits."

Lionel shook his head and smirked in amusement. He handed Lex the papers he had been up all night preparing. Lionel took a sip of water as Lex squinted at the contract.

"Corporate life insurance?" Lex questioned.

"Standard for all upper-level employees," were Lionel's words by way of explanation.

Lex narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "And fifty million is standard?"

"You underestimate yourself," Lionel parried. "Why do you seem so reluctant?"

"I never considered that my life or death would have a tag price, father."

Lionel's hands closed his hands on his son's shoulders. "You are brilliant in everything you do... except perhaps for choosing your brides," Lionel added as an aside. "But you're doubtless a corporate asset. If something should happen to you, LuthorCorp will lose out. We'll need compensation."

Lex remained stiff and unyielding. "There's something you're hiding, father."

Lionel's jaw locked. "If you find this unacceptable, you can return your security card to Nelson."

Lex shook his head and remained silent.

Later that day, Chloe entered the building and headed straight towards Lionel's office. Before entering, Lucas stopped her.

"What are you doing here?" Lucas demanded. Chloe could see the worry clouding his features as he glanced dow the corridor. "What's that?" he motioned to the folder that Chloe clutched in her hands.

Chloe shook her head. "Nothing."

"You've already told me about Lex, Chloe. I doubt you'll be able to sake me off that easily."

"Look, Lucas," she sighed, "I did some things that I'm not proud of. And I'd like to leave them at that."

"I'd imagine being with Lex is one of those."

"If you can't be serious--"

"All right, all right."

Chloe sighed. "I--I sold myself out. Actually, I sold my best friend out."

"Let me guess. To my father?"

Chloe nodded. "And before you go off spouting about how I am a victim to your father's manipulations I'd caution you that your father didn't really have to leap far. I wanted it. was so pissed at Clark. At least in the beginning it was all me."

"I wasn't going to insult you by insinuating that it was all my dad and you were stupid enough to fall into the trap. You never struck me as naive."

"Thanks I guess," she mumbled.

Lucas nodded, as if he had complimented her and he knew it. "You're now here to end it," he stated.

"I have to. I've gotta get away from it. If there's any chance of keeping this subtle--"

Lucas knew what she was referring to. He may not agree with Chloe's decision, but that did not mean he'd let her be to figure out her own mistakes. "I'm coming with you."

The grateful look she threw his way made it worthwhile. Lucas opened the door to his father's office, much to Lionel's surprise. He motioned the two of them in. "Miss Sullivan, what a nice surprise. Have you brought me an addendum to your report on Clark Kent?"

She held out the file in her hands. "It's my final article for the Daily Planet. I'm turning in my resignation today."

Lionel looked through the file. "So you're terminating our agreement."

Despite the host of reasons that she had, the primary one being the 'accident' that irrevocably linked her to Lex, Chloe reasoned, "Clark's friendship just means too much to me."

"I can't say this is unexpected, but it will be disappointing. For the last few weeks there, I thought we were going to be spending a lot of time together. I was looking forward to it."

Emerging demanding from his long silence, Lucas asked firmly, "Do you know something?"

Lionel smirked. It looked like a genuine smile, but that was impossible. And so the two supposed that he smirked. "There's no need to cut off all communication, my dear. We can just all pretend that those involved were not. He doesn't need to know."

It could have been Clark, but Chloe knew better. She was immediately on guard. Lionel had ended the charade. He knew, and he was telling her he knew. "I'm sorry, Mr. Luthor. I guess some people are just better at leading double lives than others."

She started to leave. Lucas placed a warm hand on the small of her back for support.

"You misunderstand," Lionel said. "I'm not disappointed." If possible, Lionel's eyes were now warm. "You're father will be."

Chloe closed her eyes. "I know."

"I'm not going to tell him in one condition." By this time, Chloe and Lucas were already on their way out. "You will keep in constant contact with me."

When finally Lex escaped from the army of security officers that hounded him, he headed straight for the Talon to talk to Clark.

"This is impossible," Lex pronounced. "Did you hear anything about anyone who's trying to kill me?"

Clark nodded. "You won't belive this, but there's this kid named Van who thinks that the meteor rocks altered the genes of some of the people around here."

"Altered?"

"He thinks they've developed different abilities than the rest of us, and he's hunting them. Lex, he had a hit list. They found it in his cabin, and you're on it."

Lex arched his eyebrows. "Clark, the only abilities I have are playing the market and falling for the wrong women." It still stung. Even joking about it didn't help. Those touches, those whispered conversations in his dreams couldn't have been a lie.

Damn Helen!

"He's crazy," Clark offered by way of explanation.

Still, the conversation bothered Clark the entire time he was walking back to the Torch office. When he arrived, most of the thoughts he entertained about Lex's crazy stalker evaporated at the sight.

His best girl Chloe sat in front of the computer while Lucas knelt in front of her, handing her the tissues she was using to alternately blow her nose and dab at her eyes.

"Chlo?" he said tentatively.

Chloe looked up at him with bits of tissue sticking to the skin under her eyes. Before he could say a word, Lucas had started brushing them away with his fingers. A lump formed in Clark's throat. He wanted to demand, "What the hell is going on here?!" but knew that he had no right, especially after what had happened a few months ago with Lana.

"Did you need anything, Clark?" Chloe inquired, as if nothing was amiss.

"Ummm," Clark stammered. "Well..."

It did not help at all that Lucas sat back on the balls of his feet, smirking at him.

"I was just thinking about your theory. There's no way anyone would suspect Lex of anything other than probably being not so honest with some business dealings. That's hardly a cause for concern when it comes to meteor freaks."

Chloe shook her head. The last thing she wanted to talk about was anything related t Lex. Yet as long as Clark was in her life, she would likely have to talk about Lex.

She had to keep it as far away from herself as possible. "Think about it, Clark. Lex survived the meteor shower, a near-fatal car accident, and a plane crash. Even he doesn't have enough money to afford a guardian angel with that much clout. Check this out."

Chloe pulled up her file on Lex on the computer. She would have deleted it a long time ago, but since she got involved with him on another level, she couldn't help but go through it.

"Lex's medical records show that he has a white blood cell count that is off the charts. I mean, it's more than enough to raise an eyebrow."

Clark noticed how Lucas sat up at that. He read the report Chloe had on Lex and glanced at Chloe with some concern.

Clark was irritated. "You've been keeping a file on Lex, too. Chloe, didn't you learn your lesson about keeping your secret files? You have no business researching on the guy!"

She wanted to laugh. If only Clark knew just how much business she had with Lex. "They're my own private notes. Since when is curiosity a crime?"

"Since someone took your database and turned it into a personal hit list!" Clark exclaimed. "How can you be so irresponsible? Van had a printout of the same file on his bulletin board."

Chloe stared at the screen in shock. Lucas unfolded himself to his full height and glared at Clark.

"Oh, God. This is all my fault. He could've been seriously hurt."

Clark's face softened. He was about to apologize to Chloe when Lucas held up a hostile hand to shut him up.

Clark recognized at once that he was in dangerous territory. "It's not your fault," he managed. He backed away from the Torch office.

When they were alone, Lucas kicked the Torch office shut and turned back to Chloe. "You know it's not your fault."

Chloe merely shook her head and melted against Lucas.

"I was right. I should never have started it in the first place. I knew he was gonna get hurt--" hervoice trailed off.

Lucas sighed with exasperation. "And he protested a lot."

Chloe pulled away and regarded him with red-rimmed eyes. "Lex," Lucas clarified. "He protested a lot, didn't he?"

"He--he wanted it."

"I rest my case."

"It doesn't matter! He doesn't even remember me. God, my dad! How am I going to tell him I'm pregnant? I'm just a senior."

She was the picture of every girl who got into too much trouble too quickly. He supposed she never thought this would happen to her. In truth, when he first met her that night that Lex saved him, Lucas had pegged Chloe for more things than this. Yet again who could have ever questionedthe insanity that possesses Lex whenever he's in love. Lucas knew Lex enough to suspect him of possibly getting Chloe pregnant on purpose. Lucas had seen how in love his brother had been. It wasn't doubtful.

_And now here's a girl in trouble. And Lex is wiped clean, innocent and free. Bastard._

And he couldn't even be mad at his brother.

"Come here," Lucas commanded softly, pulling Chloe back into his arms. "I'll fix this as much as I can."

"What?" she said tearfully, yet teasingly. "Are you going to tell everyone that this is yours?"

Lucas was delighted at her attempt at levity. "Well it makes sense. You get a dad for the kid who will most likely look like someone from my family. Plus, the kid'll get the name he was supposed to have. Not to mention the inheritance."

She smiled, a genuine effort to thank him for trying. "You're illegitimate," she said wryly.

Before Lucas could reply, the door to the office opened to reveal a frowning Lex Luthor. The two turned to the older man whose eyebrows arched on his forehead.

"I was just going to demand answers," Lex drawled. "Apparently, I'm a killer's target because of you, Ms Sullivan."

"I'm-- I--"

"You don't have to explain. Out of intense complexities, intense simplicities emerge," he quoted. "You're a fanatic, Ms Sullivan. I'd have let that pass. But your irresponsibility and insane curiosity almost got me killed. That's bad in my book."

"Get out, Lex," Lucas ordered.

"Didn't even know you're in town," Lex addressed to Lucas. He then turned to Chloe and said, "Taking insights from the sibling? Wrong move. He hasn't known me a week. You won't get anything beneficial from him."

Lucas shook his head. He half expected Chloe to be trembling, for her eyes to be brimming with tears. When he looked at her she was neither. Instead, Chloe was looking longingly at Lex, as if at any moment, she would reach up to him and touch him. Lex would sooner or later notice it, if he had not yet done so.

"Come on, Chloe. I'll take you home. You can tell the nurse that you're not feeling well."

Lucas watched the two intently. Chloe's eyes closed when they passed by Lex. She inhaled deeply as if to burn the scent in her brain. Lex, on the other hand, stared with a confused expression at the top of the blonde head that passed by him. Lucas noticed how his brother's eyes flickered and followed Chloe's movements as she clutched at Lucas' arm.

Lucas knew that it was a beginning for his brother.

How absolutely fitting then, in this convoluted love affair, that tonight, under Lucas' watchful eye, Chloe would be burning everything she had of Lex. It was time to forget.


	49. Shallow Slumber

SHALLOW SLUMBER

She was frantic. The moment the door closed behind Lex, Chloe stalked over to the Wall and started tearing out the pictures and articles there.

"Chloe, what the heck! That's your life's work," Lucas protested.

She shook her head. She used a trembling hand to grab the photograph of the Kent barn emblazoned with a burning symbol. Then, she stripped the wall of the magazine cover of the five-year-old Lana Lang crying. "It hurts more people than it helps, Lucas. If it were just these two, I'd say to hell with it. But he was right! Lex almost got killed because of me."

When Chloe started pulling a chair over to the Wall so she could reach the top, Lucas gave up and helped out reluctantly. "You know, Chloe, Lex has always been proud of your research. He was impressed with your talent and devotion."

"Fine proof we got here then," she muttered.

"That was not the real Lex. The real Lex, the one I remember from my very last phone conversation with him, right before he got married--"

Chloe flinched at that.

"He told me that you were someone who had goals, ideals, a mission. He would be amazed at you about all those things forver."

She sadly looked backat Lucas, while packing up the items from the Wall of Weird into large envelopes. "Well that Lex doesn't exist anymore."

Lionel had been waiting a long time for the past months to arrive in his life. For years, after Lillian's death, he had been disappointed with his son. Lex had been a mother's boy since his birth, a sickly child who would never stop crying until his mother picked him up. When tragedy struck and Lillian died, the only silverlining that Lionel saw was that Lex would finally become the strong young man he needed as his heir. Lex had turned out to be such a disappointment as he grew up unstable, uncontrollable and irresponsible. Itwas almost as if Lex spent most of his time searching for ways to kill himself.

Lionel's irritation had grown so much that he had had to throw Lex to the shit town of Smallville to teach him a lesson. For a long time there, it seemed that Lexhad grown. Lionel threw Lex obstacles and dilemmas to test his mettle. Over and over again, Lex impressed Lionel. His son became involved with the Sullivan girl. At least, that was Lionel's strong suspicion. Lionel had then believed he could finally leave LuthorCorp to his son.

Out of nowhere, Helen Bryce swept into Lex's life and changed everything that Lionel felt Lex had achieved. Lionel pitied the poor Sullivan girl for the humongous mess Lex had created. During the funeral, Lionel had wanted to comfort the girl She truly seemed to be mourning, definitely a lot more than those his son called friends. Perhaps in that desperate need to console the young woman Lionel had personally chosen for his son, he made the only pact he could find that would link him to her without raising her suspicions.

Lionel needed to do one thing, and that was to awaken something in his son. He glanced at his clock, anticipating the second hand's touch with its destination.

He was right on time.

Lex strode into Lionel's office, his face grim and eyes filled with cold fury.

"I thought I made it clear that I have come back to this company completely?" Lex demanded.

Lionel pursed his lips. "What seems to be wrong?"

"Insufficient access?"

Lionel shrugged. "It's our security policy, Lex. Util you complete all requirements, IT will not grant you all the network privileges of the employees."

Lex sighed and sat down. "Dad, you have nothing to fear from me."

"Then why do you refuse to give us a psychological profile?"

Lex threw up his hands. "I've never believed in this psychobabble."

Lionel's sharp eyes noticed the very subtle movement of Lex's throat that indicated swallowing before answering. Lex also shifted in his seat. His son was hiding something.

"Do you dream a lot, Lex?"

Lex's gaze flew to Lionel's. Lionel congratulated himself silently. "Some."

"Lex, your emotional health has a lot to do with the decisions you will be making for this company. I know you probably dream of your time on the island--"

"I said it before and I'll say it again, dad," Lex said firmly. "I don't want to speak about it!"

"--the last months here in Smallville and in Metropolis that just got wiped out of your memory."

"Dad!"

"But dreams can represent your intense fears or desires."

"Spare me." Lex studied his father carefully, and saw that he would not budge. "I assure you. Even without talking about all this, I can function properly enough to make the correct decisions."

Lionel smiled thinly. "Then prove it, Lex. Take the test. It's only five sessions." He paused for effect. "Think about it."

Lionel took out the surveillance photographs he had of Chloe Sullivan. The fact that Lex had seemed to have completely forgotten about her did not translate to Lionel's eradicating her from the list. After all, she had effected all the changes in Lex that caused Lionel to correct his view of his own son. He had promised himself, back when he thought Lex had gotten killed in that plane crash, that he would look after Chloe. He would continue to do it too, no matter what happened. Lucas was an added bonus, the way Lionel's younger son seemed to latch onto Chloe. Lionel felt better that blood was looking out for her.

When Lex opened the door to his office, Lionel shoved the pictures back inside his drawer.

"I've made the decision. I'm going o prove my worth to you. I will take the test."

Lionel nodded his head and smiled. "Which of the shrinks will you be using?"

"Claire Foster," Lex supplied.

"Good choice!"

Lionel picked up the phone and dialled Claire's number.

"Look, Claire, I will pay you whatever amount you want if you can begin to awaken Lex's lost memories."

"I know.. I know... you're supposed to just check on his mental stability. My son is stable, I assure you," Lionel drawled. "And he's not a coward either. He has to face up with everything that's happened. He's not going to use this amnesia as an escape."


	50. Perry White Goes to Town

Hi! I have a simple question that you may or may not elect to answer. Can you please tell me which scenes in the entire Chlexville fic you like best? I want your input so I know which ones to include in a scene. Tnx!

Perry White Goes to Town

Chloe stepped into the Torch office to find Clark standing in front of the Wall of Weird with a very intent stranger. She had tried not to look at it for some time now. Lucas could have convinced her to bring it up again, so that when Lex finally remembered, not much would have changed.

"I think we should go," Clark said. Chloe wondered how someone so obviously strong can sound so cowardly.

"Boy, I thought our stuff was off the wall. This is incredible."

She cleared her throat and clarified. "They're all true."

"Chloe. Mr. White is interested in the meteor shower. I didn't think it would hurt if he had a look," Clark explained.

''I have nothing to hide."

"Well, good. I think we've already borrowed two or three of your ideas for our show." Suddenly, the stranger's charming curiosity became warped with agenda. "Do you make it all up yourself, or do you pull in other writers?''

Chloe narrowed her eyes at Clark. ''Excuse me?"

The stranger then handed Chloe a business card. "Just professional curiosity. It's not every day that I meet another junk journalist with a penchant for the bizarre."

After reading the card, Chloe glared at Clark again. She had far heavier and more serious problems than this. When she had believed this man was genuinely interested in her word, she had entertained him to see if Lucas was right, and that her work was actually of help to some. "XStyles?" she repeated. "Look, I have a penchant for the truth, something your freaks and shrieks cable show gave up around episode two."

Perry started laughing. He held up his hands in front of him in mock surrender. "Oooh."

"All right," Clark interrupted, before Chloe could get more riled up with him than she already was. "We're done here."

Before they could leave though, Chloe stopped them. Clark frowned at her, which Chloe took for confusion. "You're THE Perry White?"

"Hey, why don't I leave you two alone to patch things up? You can just swing back later for more of the grand tour," he said to Clark. Then, he left without acknowledging Chloe's question.

Chloe turned to Clark, almost red and hopping in excitement. "Clark! Do you have any idea who that was?"

Claire shook her head and tossed her pen on the desk. Lex had wasted a full week of her life talking about the interior design of the mansion. Finally, she got Lex to sit down and agree to take one session seriously. The Luthors may be good in bargaining, but so was she. After threatening not to complete the documents he needed for a clean bill of mental health, Lex had become reluctantly amenable.

"Why all the fuss, I'll never know," Claire murmured. Lex was sufficiently relaxed and likely more welcome to conversation. "What do you dream about Lex?"

At first, he pursed his lips as if he wasn't going to answer. Lex's eyes were closed as he recounted, "I dream about death, and not about bullets or plane crashes. Those are too easy. I dream about that island starving to death because there's no food, or dehydrating because there's no water."

"Lex, do you remember what your life was like in Smallville before you got married?"

"Same as it is now," Lex replied wryly.

"Do you have memories of wonderful things, and feel like it's just not right--that something is missing?"

There was a long pause. Someone. Someone was missing, but she wasn't going to know that. "Sometimes," was all he said.

"Well," Claire exclaimed, impressed at how honest and open Lex now was, "that's it for the day. Baby steps."

Lex opened his eyes.

"That wasn't so hard, was it? And you were so reluctant to tell me about those dreams."

He turned his head towards the window. "Here's the catch. i wouldn't even think about telling another soul, but I'm afraid about the images haunting me."

"It's perfectly understandable to dream about a horrid past," Claire assured him.

"Lately, more and more, I've been dreaming about my brother's girlfriend. And the situations that my subconscious puts us in are not horrid at all," Lex shared. "Is this a manifestation of my needs?"

Claire smiled and patted his hand. "I'm sure it's nothing to worry about," she told him. "It's probably your subconscious telling you that you want to develop closeness with your brother, Lex."

But Lucas never figured in the dreams. In Lex's dream life, Chloe was not connected to his brother.

The phone in Lucas' pocket rang while he was having dinner with both Lex and their father. Lucas turned it off and placed it on the table.

"That's not proper table manners, Lucas," Lionel reminded his son.

Lucas checked the registered number and said, "It's Chloe." Lex glanced up. "I'll just call her back."

"You know," Lex said casually, "it could be important."

"If it is, she'll call back."

"She could easily run out of minutes. What calling plan is she using anyway?"

Lucas studied his brother's impassive face. Why was Lex all of a sudden interested in Chloe? For all he knew, Lex still held a grudge against the young woman he still believed was Lucas' girlfriend.

Lex must have noticed the regard being given to him by Lucas and Lionel. He mentioned offhandedly, "If you like her, I do have to exert some effort to know her."

"Ah what a tangled web we weave," Lionel quoted. His sons looked at him, as if wondering what had gotten dislodged in that Luthor brain. "What? I like this quote."

Before the two could comment, Luas' phone rang again. "Answer it," Lex advised.

Lucas stood and walked away from the table, but remained inside the dining room. "Chloe, calm down I can barely understand you."

Lex sat up on his seat as he imagined a memory of Chloe calling him from her school ventilator shaft as she took pictures of the water sprinklers spouting fire, back in the desperate days of the varsity team. Where was he getting all of these dreams of her? Now, it won't even stop during his waking hours.

"Well don't make hasty decisions. I want you to think about this carefully tonight." Lucas sighed. "You can't be decided now. You only started considering it thirty minutes ago." Pause. "Fine. But I'm coming with you."

Lex watched his brother as Lucas returned to his seat. He was about to ask, but it would have been too obvious. "Was there anything wrong?"

"No." If Lex asked another question, then this interest was more than what he had implied.

"It sounded like there was."

"Not exactly." Lucas smiled at the guarantee that even if Lex never starts remembering, nature was taking its course and his brother was falling for her again. "A man named Perry White dropped by the Torch office."

"That man is a hack!" Lionel muttered.

"That's what Chloe said too. She said he's sold himself out. But she also remembers that he was once a great journalist."

Lex nodded in encouragement.

"She wants to go back to Metropolis with him to help him with his cynicism for journalism."

"What!" Lionel exclaimed.

"Is she insane?" Lex hissed. "You're not letting her, are you?"

"Chloe is her own woman."

"You're right," Lex whispered.

Lucas saw Lionel's brows arch.

"You don't even know her," Lucas replied. If he needed Lex to remember, then he should test the limits of a new aspect of Lex that he now bared. "What was the only contact you've had with her--blaming her for some psycho going after you?"

Lionel's lips curved at the tense posture of both his sons as they sat for the meal.

"I've known her before you even existed to this town!"

Lucas sucked in his breath. Was that it? Did Lex finally remember? Then why wasn't he running out the door and driving towards Chloe?

"So you remember everything?"

Even Lionel held his breath.

"I met her in the Torch office almost two years ago." Lex narrowed his eyes. "I never forgot anything." He pushed away from the table. "I know what this is. You two," he looked from Lucas to his father, "believe that I still don't have all my memories."

"Now where did you ever get that idea?" Lionel shook his head. "Paranoia, Lex. I believe that's what it's called." Lex was already on his way out the door. "Where are you going?" Lionel called out. "You should speak with Claire!"

Chloe watched the journalist that she used to admire as Perry scrutinized the posts on the Wall of Weird. "If you let me know what you're looking for, I'm sure I could help you find it."

"Why would you want to do that?"

"So you'd quit hanging around here and I'd get some work done," she answered lightly. Then, Chloe smiled. "And maybe because you were once the kind of reporter that I would like to be. Though, I'm-I'm curious how one goes from multiple Pulitzer nominations to walking the Bigfoot beat."

"What if I told you that I landed the story of a lifetime?"

"And why didn't you write it?" She glanced at Perry and saw something in his eyes she never wanted to see when she looked in the mirror. "Perry 'The Pit Bull' White backing off a story? That's hard to believe. Who was it? Lionel Luthor?"

Perry looked at the girl up and down. "I'm warning you now. Not everyone respects good investigative journalism."

"I'm not afraid of the Luthors," she told him. "If there's anything you need to know about me, then that's it."

"And why would I want to know anything about you?"

Chloe grinned. She pointed to the Wall. "Because I most likely have the information you're looking for. Because I'm willing to go to Metropolis to help you out."

Perry turned his back on the Wall and faced Chloe. "Are you insane?" he hissed.

"Maybe." Chloe's eyes sparkled.

"No!"

"Don't be too hasty," Chloe cautioned. "I want you to think about it. I can help you, Mr. White."

Perry moved towards the door, shaking his head. "You need someone to rein you in," Perry muttered.

Chloe smiled, satisfied and feeling lighter than she had felt in months.

After Perry left the Torch office, he was taken aback at the sight of Lex Luthor lounging against th wall outside the office. Perry tried to slip unnoticed, then Lex turned towards him.

"I see you," Lex said softly.

Perry kept walking away. "Nothing to talk about, Luthor."

Lex nodded. "See that there isn't. Oh and one more thing, Mr. White." Perry stopped and listened, without looking at Lex. "I'm running you out of town. Consider yourself warned."

Perry took deep breaths before turning around to look back at Lex. When he looked back, Lex was no longer leaning against the wall. Instead, he only saw the closing door of the Torch office.

"Ms Sullivan," Lex called. "I came to apologize."

The office was empty. There was no answer.

"Ms Sullivan!"

Lex frowned at the thought of Perry White hanging around Chloe's office unchaperoned. He looked around, trying to figure out if something had gone missing since the last time he barged in here. Everything seemed to be in order.

Lex heard a soft moan. He searched for the source of the sound and saw Chloe Sullivan lying on the floor beside the desk. He knelt before her and tapped her cheek.

"Ms Sullivan, are you alright?"

She breathed softly, "Lex."

Her eyes fluttered open, and she stared into his eyes.

And Lex was taken aback by an image of her standing in the middle of his darkened bedroom as he stalked towards her and took her in his arms in a breathtaking kiss. And his lips released hers.

"What happened?" she said softly.

"I found you here unconscious." Lex groaned inside, because his voice had never been softer before.

"Oh."

"I'll help you up," he offered.

Chloe gratefully took his hand. Lex placed an arm around her waist and lifted her to her feet. He breathed in her scent, which sent his senses reeling.

Of all the jokes fate could play on him, why did it have to be an unfortunate and uncalled for crush on his brother's girl?


	51. Relics of the Past

RELICS OF THE PAST

Chloe rearranged her clothes very subtly while Clark occupied himself with an old book. She pulled the front of her top down until she was sure that she had hidden every curve that needed to be hidden from Clark.

"I didn't know you could take police records out of City Hall," Clark commented.

Chloe grinned, "You could if you caught the clerk and his girlfriend playing cops and robbers while on the job."

Clark appreciated the humor, the way he usually did when he needed answers, and they both laughed. He pored through the book looking for the June 1961 robbery.

"I have a hunch," he later clarified when she looked suspicious.

"Clark, all the details you've given me point to more than a hunch."

"Just go with me on this one," he requested. He flipped through the page he needed and then, vindicated, he instructed Chloe to read the name of the robber.

"Lachlan Luthor," Chloe read aloud. She gasped. "That's--that's Lex's grandpa," she exclaimed before she caught herself. Clark gave her an odd look. "Oh, come on, I had a three megabyte file on Lex. I know his favorite cereal." It repeatedly amazed her how she could say so much in so few words. What amazed her more was Clark's inability to read those signals properly.

"Well, you're gonna have to find out more about this from Lex."

It was sheer discomfort that prompted her to say no at once. "Wait, Clark, I'm gonna have to bail. The last time I researched the Luthors, Lex almost got killed." She still had chills thinking of that, and remembering Lex's words when he stormed into her office. It was completely her fault, and yet Lex had give her the time to go to the office to apologize to her.

"Please, Chloe." Clark would apologize and admit what he needed to when he knew that it could get him to Lana faster. "You do have to face him sooner or later."

And there he was right. Chloe should finally get the chance to speak with Lex when she was not at disadvantage.

The noises coming from Lex's room were unfamiliar and new. Lucas waited outside the door and heard the muttered curses and drawn sighs of his brother.

Finally the door opened and Lucas nodded to his brother who was carrying with him a box. "Moving out?"

Lex gave Lucas a brief smile. "Women's items I found in my bedroom. I figure they're all Helen's so I'm throwing these out."

"Hey." Lucas peeked through the boc and recognized some of the items not by memory but by knowing what Chloe's personality was. "Let me take care of these." He took the box from Lex. "May I?"

"Knock yourself out."

Lucas waited until Lex had closed his room door. He brought the box with him to his own room and rifled through the various things. There were two discs there of Legally Blonde. He also saw a worn copy of Les Mis. Inside, there were various items of pastel-colored underwear as well.

He would need to give them back as soon as possible.

Since school was about to end for the day, Lucas figured that he would pass by the Torch office to pick Chloe up. When he opened his door, he was surprised to see Chloe standing on the upper floor landing.

"Hey!" he called out. "Aren't you early?"

Chloe turned and saw him grinning up at her. She flew down the steps and threw her arms around his neck. "I have to show you something!"

"What is it?"

"A baby picture!" she said happily.

"You've given birth?" Lucas said snidely. "You still look like you're on the heavy side."

"Mean!" she swatted him with the back of her hand. "Anyway," she continued when Lucas seemed serious, "I went to the doctor today--"

"Didn't I ask you to tell me so I can take you?"

She shook her head. "And I have my ultrasound pinup." Chloe looked around and saw no one. Finally, she opened her folder and showed him the baby.

Damn the kid. He took the picture in his hands. Why did the stranger baby bring tears to his eyes? "Chloe, she's got your eyes."

The comment made Chloe break into laughter. "I don't know," she answered. "They look distinctly Luthor."

Lucas loped his arm around her shoulders. "So what did the doc have to say?"

The question made her heart grow heavy. "Pre natal care is expensive," she expressed. "I have a long list of vitamins and energy supplements."

Maybe if the circumstances had been different, and she was still with a Lex who remembered his past, she would not have this difficulty with paying for all of the required pills. She shook her head. What had happened, happened. She was only grateful for the help Lucas had given her.

"You do know that I'll help you out," he reminded her.

Chloe nodded. "You've got to support yourself, Lucas. I can't take money from you."

"Can I keep this?"

"It's your niece or nephew."

"It is," he said in wonder. Lucas slipped the picture into his pocket.

She looked up and took a deep breath. "I'm going to meet Lex."

"Good luck."

She had half expected herself to run when Lex

finally looked at her. The opposite occurred as she stood on the upper level of Lex's study. While Lex flipped through a book, Chloe was rooted to the spot.

He was as beautiful as the sun. She needed him, but she knew there were things she could not do--look at him too long, come too close or stay for more than she has to.

"I always assumed my father's knack for taking people's money was inherited, but... I hardly think petty crime runs in the family." He placed the book down.

"Smallville wasn't exactly teeming with Lachlan Luthors. Your grandfather has to be the one who was arrested." Probably insisting it when he seemed bent on denying it was ot a good idea.

"Chloe," Lex sighed. "No one in my family set foot in this town until my father bought the cream corn factory. Isn't an age-old robbery a little off your usual teen beat?" Good way to get to her lovely side. Insult her when she most likely had all the proof she would ever need. Chloe did not strike him as a girl who would raise an issue for nothing.

From the corner of his eye, Lex saw his brother hanging outside the door. He glanced at he reporter again and couldn't blame his brother. Had he been her boyfriend, he would be waiting on her like a puppy dog as well. "I wish I could help you, Chloe, but I'm afraid you've met a dead end."

Chloe frowned at Lex. He suspected something, but he wouldn't give it up. Why would he? To him, she was just one of his brother's passing flings. Lex's pretense of strength did not even faze Chloe. She knew the smallest sign that he tried to hide something, and she understood why he would.

__

Outside Lucas encountered Lionel walking towards him. He looked back at Lex's slightly open door and at his father. Seeing where Lionel's gaze was directed made Lucas' heart sink. He was obviously in for a treat, because his father was not here to see Lex.

"Lucas."

"Father."

"I heard your talk with Ms Sullivan."

Lucas forced his face to remain neutral. "Did you?" he replied coolly. "To be honest I've forgotten most of it. I don't remember much of what we talk about."

Lionel smiled. "Please, Lucas. I'm not out to kill her."

"I don't see why you should be anyway," the young man replied. "It would be a waste of resources."

Lionel nodded. "You're telling me you don't care about her." Lucas grinned coldly. "I swear I heard you promise that you won't bail on her."

"Don't you think you're a little too mature for this, dad?" Lucas sighed. "She was asking if I can make it to her party."

Lucas held his breath. His father may be the worst parent in the world but he was damn shrewd.

Lionel cracked a smile. "Here you go, son." He handed Lucas an envelope. "You should go bring your own contribution to that party at Ms Sullivan's." Lucas stiffened when Lionel looked down at his pocket, where the ultrasound picture rested. "You need some budget. Don't spend it all. Keep some for yourself."

Stunned, Lucas reached for the envelope. Lionel never gave him his own money. It was only Lex who bothered with the allowance. Was his father actually giving him this much freedom?

When Lionel had retreated, Lucas looked inside the envelope and let out a whistle. His father had just handed him a few thousand easy. The door opened and Chloe stepped out, smiling at him. At the sight of Lex leading Chloe out, Lucas had to wonder if Lionel had truly heard his conversation with Chloe. Had his father just solved the problem of Chloe's financial need for this pregnancy?

Chloe shook his brother's hand, and Lucas' eyes fell to her four and a half month belly. Lex still hadn't noticed, thankfully. Soon, she was going to grow too big for people not to see. He was going to have to make a decision.

"Waiting for Chloe, Lucas?"

"We've got a party to prepare for."

Chloe looked questioningly at Lucas. "Really?"

"Dad gave us all the money we need," Lucas replied. "Here you go." He placed the envelope in her hand. "You get to decide everything we need."

She gasped in surprise. Lionel had dropped all the hints. This was the proof that he knew. "Are you sure you're going to let me use it?"

"It's your party," Lucas told her.

Lex watched as Chloe peeked into the envelope and threw her arms around Lucas. "Thanks," she whispered.

When Lucas and Chloe pulled away, Lucas glanced at his brother's serious demeanor. "We'd invite you, Lex," Lucas started, "but it's a private party."

Lex didn't crack a smile of his own. "Have fun."

"Congratulations, Lex."

Lex's brows met. "What do you mean?"

Chloe elbowed Lucas on the ribs. "He told me you're presenting tomorrow, and that you'll be sure to knock them dead." She smiled. "So, yeah. Congratulations."

"Thanks," Lex answered. "Are you okay now?"

Chloe nodded. "Thanks for being there, Mr Luthor. I don't know what would have happened if you hadn't been there."

"Have you had a check up?"

Lucas wrapped his arm around her waist. "She has," he said. "I've seen the results. She just needs some vitamins."

"All right." Lex put his hand on Chloe's shoulder, amking her shiver. "Good to hear. If you ever need any help, don't hesitate to call me. After all," he added, "you're almost a Luthor now."

"What?" she breathed.

"Lucas. He's gotten more responsible and mature. He's serious about you."

"Oh." Chloe smiled and moved away. "Well, I'll see you."

"Goodbye, Chloe."


	52. Magnetic Attraction

Magnetic Attraction

The Lowell county fair was busy and colorful. Chloe looked around at the various rides and stands littering the wide area. People screamed as the roller coaster spiralled several times. As if the noise was not enough, an audience surrounded the bad of prformers onstage, clapping and cheering.

Chloe waited while Lana inspected a snow globe merchandise that was distinctly Smallville. It held Smallville's title as "Meteor Capital of the World," propagating the dubious repute. A small house and a replica of the Smallville watch tower were encapsulated inside. Lana shook the globe and small green meteor fragments float around in the liquid.

Lana screwed her lips. "How tasteless. They probably used real meteor rocks."

At first sight Chloe recognized it as a nice gift for Lex. It was trite and cheap, but it was something she knew he would appreciate. After all, the meteor rocks set Smallville apart from all the places in the world he had ever been. "It's the American version of closure," Chloe answered. "You only get over grief when you figure out how to merchandise your tragedy." Chloe looked away at a distance.

Lana handed the globe to the proprietor. She drew eight dollars from her purse and took the bag with the globe inside it.

"Are you nervous that someone's going to capitalize on your secret?" she asked.

Chloe glanced at Lana, her lips parted in surprise. Then she swiftly covered it with a grin. "I don't have any secrets, Lana."

The brunette nodded and slipped the bag in Chloe's hand. "This is for you. I know you enjoy meteor stuff. Just don't tell Clark you have that. He hates the sight of a meteor rock!"

Chloe accepted the gift and thanked her friend. She wondered what Lana had meant by the secret she referred to. Surely Lana didn't know.

"Cotton candy!"

The two started towards the vendor. On the way, Chloe was plagued with doubt. Was it truly possible that Lana knew? They lived in the same house. She must have heard Chloe on a sick morning. Lana must have noticed that Chloe had not touched any of the pads in their cabinet for months. Chloe took a deep breath. If Lana knew, she would have told Gabe or Clark. Since neither had approached Chloe yet, Chloe had to believe that Lana didn't know. The little comment was a slip.

Chloe did not know how to respond know. She could just crash back to normality and forget Lana mentioned anything. She was grateful when Lana started talking about Clark.

Chloe took her cotton candy and sighed in pleasure. The sweetness burst inside her mouth as the candy melted.

"Hey!" Lana laughed, pointing to the pink moustache Chloe seemed to have. "Not too much okay? It's not good for you."

Chloe stopped chuckling when Lana smiled at her.

When Lex saw Chloe's name on the list of people checking up on the trail he was following, Lex shook his head. Fate had a marvelous sense of humor, he thought. He was already spending his nights on a constant battle against haunting dreams about her. Even in waking Chloe would not leave him.

He visited the Torch office and thought he imagined the first line that came out of her mouth. "Finally. I didn't think you were gonna show." It was as if his dreams came true. The next line shattered his hopes. Not that Clark Kent ever operates on the same speed as the rest of the world."

He managed a casual parry. "Interesting observation, Chloe."

Chloe froze at the sound of his voice. She turned around and braced herself for another exposure to eyes that had no recollection of her. "Hey, Lex. Uh, Clark's not here obviously."

"I was looking for you." His whole life probably, but that is another matter entirely. "It's come to my attention that you've been checking into my father. I saw your name on the Metropolis County Records log."

Since Lionel expressed an amount of concern for her in the nightmare that was Lex's funeral, Chloe had been reading up on Lex's father. The last show of consideration, of giving Lucas money clearly meant to be spent on her pregnancy sealed the deal. She had to know more about this multi-faceted man. "Oh, yeah that. Um, I'm just writing a story on him for the Torch."

''Oh, really? A story that involves obscure childhood medical records?''

Chloe turned away and fixed her table. She was afraid that was the specific record Lex was talking about. She had told Lucas they would not need it. However, when the doctor mentioned just a small oddity in her checkup, Lucas insisted on bringing medical records of Lex and her father. Chloe, he asked to retrieve Lionel's. "Better to be safe than sorry," he had told her.

"I'm just trying to be thorough." Her answer was lame even to her own ears.

Lex nodded. He had perfected the inscrutable look. He hoped to heaven his training i emotionlessness would not fail him now. "The mark of a good reporter. And you are a good reporter, Chloe." He noted the flicker inhis eyes, and almost instantly knew she had exoected something beyond his capacity to tell her. "So good, apparently, that my father pulled strings to make you the youngest columnist in the history of the Daily Planet."

It was only then that Lex considered another possible reason for the offer. He rebelled against the thought of his father ever having connections with the beautiful girl in front of him. _She's Lucas' girlfriend._

Chloe, on the other hand, was flooded by memory of Lionel's own words. I_This job will ensure that you will maintain you journalistic integrity and keep you well provided. Isn't that what a reporter wants--at least one as idealistic and realistic as you are?/I_

Chloe shook her head free of this memory. Instead, she focused on the man in front of her. He had to leave. Now. Or else she did not know how long she would survive keeping up the horrendous pretense. "What do you want, Lex?" Desperately she wanted him to say her.

"I'm just curious. I'm wondering why a high school reporter is digging so deeply into my father's past. Maybe I'll just ask him about it at dinner tonight."

Chloe started. She glanced at Lex and knew a tiny hint of fear was revealed by that look. Lucas had been so certain that Lionel was playing them. He knew. Who could even attempt to second guess Lionel with regard to how much he would reveal to Lex? Fortunately, Lex moved to leave.

Chloe smiled in relief. Still, she had to stop him from going to his father. "Go ahead," she said, tauntingly. "Since the only way you could've found out about those records is if you looked into them yourself.''

Lex smirked. "At least I'm prepared for what I might find. I'm not so sure you realize what you've gotten yourself into.''

Chloe's smile faded. The words were like a slap in the face. Some time ago, long before her world shattered at his loss, just a few weeks after the pregnancy scare that almost drove her away from him but for his patience and understanding, she and Lex made the conscious, adult decision to make love. To hell with the consequences.

_IHer eyes were twinkling when she retorted, "Why do you feel so good then?"_

_Lex let out a rush of breath. "Careful, Chloe. I thought we weren't going there yet?"_

"_I don't want to keep myself from being happy just because we're scared. We can be careful, right? Besides, I know that whatever happens, you'll take care of me."_

"_Always."/I_

When they made a baby, they were consenting persons in love.

_IChloe would not dare close her eyes. Once upon a time, she could not help but squeeze her eyes shut to revel in the sensations that his touch brought. Tonight, everything was different. The urgency was heightened, for no reason at all, she told herself. Everything between them was the same. Yet from the moment he slipped inside her, Lex held his gaze as though there was nothing else in the universe except for him and Chloe. The room did not exist. Smallville did not exist. Even the sheets they were lying on did not exist. The two of them were the only entities floating magically amidst the stars._

_She gasped with each pure reaction that burned through her body. His movements were slow, and he possessed her in the way she loved so much. Lex's eyes never left hers, not even when he intertwined their fingers and brought her arms above her head. There, he held them fast. She lay completely exposed to him, bare and glowing in the moonlight they both adored._

_Even then, in her naked abandon, his eyes never left hers._

_She could see how close he was. Lex's jaw was tight, and Chloe felt the change in his thrusts. He was moving with uneven force, a slightly more erratic pace. His lucid gaze was clouded by the feelings rushing over him. Chloe's hands tightened on his until their fists were against the headboard. All her feelings coalesced into a tempest pooling in the depth of her belly._

_And her gaze strayed from his._

_When finally, the stars converged inside her body, and exploded magnificently in hot, viscous languor, Chloe's vision went white. A sigh escaped her. But her eyes were still on his. _

_Lex held none of himself back. He gave her everything until he had none left. Spent, he collapsed on top of her, gasping for breath. His open lips lay on her cheek. But even his sightless regard was trained on her./I_

"Believe me, Mr Luthor, I knew what I was doing."

The next day, it was the terror that gripped her when she saw the ransacked Torch office that forced Chloe to take the phone and seek Lex out. This had happened once before. She had melted into a heap at the center of the newspaper office, gripping the handset as she sobbed into the mouthpiece, asking him to come without using so many words. At that moment of fear there was no hesitation for Chloe. Even when she had thought that Lex was gone, she still did not remove him from her phonebook, not even from her speed dial. When the phone rang and Lex answered, she searched for words in her suddenly empty vocabulary.

Chloe hung up the phone and mustered enough courage to storm into Lex's office instead. If she could not in any way come running to him for help, because there would be no evident reason for such action, she could at least act the way all people in Smallville did.

She took her jacket and wrapped it around her body, ensuring that she was securely covered in her faceoff with Lex.

Chloe took a deep breath and headed to the castle.

Chloe stomped into the lower level of Lex's study. It surprised her how little effort it took for her to be angry at that moment. Perhaps it was the residual anger at being caught in this situation that she never wanted. She signed up for a lifetime with Lex, didn't she, when she agreed to let him go for a mock wedding with that pretentious doctor. And then again Lex wanted to do it even less than Chloe did. How could a small decision affect her entire life?

"You're a Luthor, so it's a given that you're unscrupulous, but I really thought that petty larceny was beneath you, Lex," Chloe charged, looking up at Lex.

The view from up there was beautiful. Lucas' girlfried was magnificent even in her anger. "Can you be a little more specific with the charge?" he requested. Lex started climbing down the stairs. It was not every day that Chloe Sullivan sought him out. He sure would not waste the opportunity by putting distance between them.

She hid her fear by masking it with fury. "I caught some creep in my office trying steal one of my computers. I figured either you or your father hired him."

At that, Lex was furious as well. Who would dare do that to her? He could tell at once that she was jarred, and rightly so. She couldn't be brave forever. 'Where did that stray thought come from?' "Yet you came to me."

"You're the lesser of two evils." She hated that even that sentence came out as if she was asking him to protect her. She had no right to ask that anymore. He was no longer hers.

"What do you say we pay a visit to your, uh, intruder?"

Chloe watched him leave the study in confusion, before rushing after him.

Chloe shivered in front of the dead body in the morgue. It was the first time she truly appreciated the change that the amnesia had brought to Lex. The old Lex, who had been an older childhood friend and then a lover, and always a protector, would never have thought of taking her to a place like this. Even when they were together he treated her as if she would break if exposed to the dark. He had made her want to dare things just because she knew it would irritate him.

At the first sign that she was cold, Lex took off his jacket and threw it over her own. 'At least that part of him is the same,' she thought.

"How did he die?" she whispered.

"Natural causes," Lex provided. His hand involuntarily closed around Chloe's elbow. "Apparently his heart just gave out."

"And you believe that?"

"Given what he was looking into, I doubt there was anything natural about his death."

The door of the morgue screeched heavily. Lex stiffened and turned towards the closing door. He walked over and tried to pull it open, but it did not budge. They were in a fully air-conditioned morgue, and they were stuck with dead body.

"Looks like we'll be here for the long haul," Lex smirked. His eyes quickly scanned Chloe's body. "Or at least until tomorrow when the janitor arrives. How are you?"

Chloe frowned. There was no telling how morning would find her, especially these days. She was just lucky she was now in the early part of her second trimester, and she was not as sick as she used to be.

"How do I know you're not just playing me here?" she demanded.

"You're right, Chloe. I could be. I often bring high school girls to the morgue to show them what happens when trained professionals cross my father."

"Well, there's nothing in my files worth killing for."

"We've got a corpse here that says you're wrong."

Chloe turned around, tired of looking at the dead man. She ambled over to the side of the room and saw an empty bed. She shuddered at the thought of bodies having been rolled in to the morgue on that bed. Still, she was exhausted physically and emotionally. Lex was right there in the room with her, and she could not even ask him to come and warm her up.

"I'm calling Lucas," she decided. She flipped open her phone and dialled. "Lucas, I'm stuck in the morgue with your brother. You've got to come down and get us." The call was cut and she looked at the screen. The signal was dead. "Shit."

She looked cold and scared. It was obvious. Lex walked over to where she sat on the white bed. He sat beside her and took the phone from her hand. He tossed it over to the other bed. "Chloe, you're involved in a very dangerous game. I can protect you."

Chloe sighed and unconsciously laid her head on Lex's shoulder. She truly doubted that Lionel would ever hurt her. He had done so many things in the course of the last few months that proved to her that he suspected the truth and cared about what would happen to her. Sure, Lionel had his own obsessions, but Chloe knew she was safe fron Lionel's long-reaching arm.

"Lex, you have no idea what you're offering," she responded, looking up at him with liquid eyes.

Lex looked down at the young woman who at that moment looked totally dependent on him. This was his dream. Stuck alone with her, far apart from the rest of the world, in a room where his brother did not figure, he and Chloe could see each other in a way they never could outside. He slipped his hand to cup her cheek and said, "On the contrary. I know everything that this entails. I can and will protect you, Chloe." He drew closer, and she felt his breath against her lips. Lex very gently brushed his lips against hers, sending shivers down her flesh. "You have my word."

"Lex," she sighed against his lips.

"Break up with Lucas," he requested as his kisses trailed down her jaw line.

"Okay," Chloe promised. She took Lex's face in her hands and turned him so that their lips could meet again.

"Chloe! Lex! Where are you?" They sprang apart. The door burst open and light flooded in, silhouetting Lucas who had a few blankets thrown over his arm.


	53. Shattered Illusions

Shattered Dreams

He was one of richest men in the world, but Lionel Luthor was familiar with things beyond his control. "He is suffering from delusions. He's hearing voices. He sees things that aren't there," he would be heard to explain sadly, referring to the son he never fully expressed his love for.

Lionel Luthor despaired. It was apparent in the way he stood there so tense. His fingers flipped through the pages of an old book. It used to be his favorite. How would it not be? It said, in block letters, hidden in the middle yet proudly in clear font, 'The universe pulses through me.' He had shared this with Lex once, when the boy was younger. Needless to say Lex was more interested in the works of other poets. Lionel had believed it was a weakness that Lex was enamoured of the Romantic and the Victorian until he fully explored what the periods had to offer.

Across the library his second son stood with his arms crossed in front of him. Lucas waited and listened as Lionel spoke. He did not care about poetry really. Too much happened inside his head for him to care about the imagination of other men. Yet it was the topic for the day, it seemed. Imagination. Dreams. Hallucinations.

"I want my son," Lionel expressed, for the first time genuine in Lucas' eyes. "I want him back... the way he used to be."

"That won't be possible, dad," Lucas answered. "Not in the near future at least. As long as Lex doesn't remember, he will be haunted by these nightmares."

Lionel turned to Lucas. "Nightmares?"

"I heard what Claire said," Lucas revealed. "He wakes up at night, panting, disturbed. If they're not nightmares, what are they?"

Lex's dreams were far from terrifying, but were as haunting as anything else. His dreams were full of warmth, and light, and song, and touches.

_A small delicate hand reached up and cupped his cheek. Lex smiled against the fingers that brushed his lips. In his arms, swaddled in baby blankets, was a cooing infant._

_"Hush little baby... don't say a word... I'm gonna buy you a mockingbird... and if that mocking bird don't sing... I'm gonna buy you a diamond ring..."_

_In the background, gentle laughter pealed. "If that diamond ring turns brass... I'm gonna buy you..."_

_The door of the nursery opened and Lex looked up from the rocking chair in which he was seated. Just like the other nights, the woman wrapped in a bedrobe was his brother's girlfriend._

_"Lex, what are you doing here?" she asked sleepily._

_"I had to get the baby," he explained. "He was crying."_

_"He woke you? I'm sorry. I must have slept through that."_

_Chloe walked forward, her arms extended to take the baby. Lex shook his head and turned back around. "You go back to bed. I'll take care of him." He pressed a kiss on her cheek and then smiled down at the baby. "We're okay."_

_"Are you sure?" Chloe asked again. "You do have an early meeting tomorrow."_

_"Let them wait," Lex said. "My little boy is growing fast," he continued proudly. He ran a finger down the long arm. "I can still remember when he was born. He was as big as my fist!"_

_Chloe's eyebrows rose. "You've got to be kidding me!"_

_Lex gave her a lopsided grin. "Maybe I was exaggerating a little."_

_She sat on the arm of the rocking chair and looked down at the baby. The little boy's face scrunched up and his lips formed a tiny O._

_"Shhh... He's falling asleep." Lex traced the baby's face tenderly again. "He loves this," he shared his discovery with Chloe. "I read something about this. It's called touch therapy. He knows my touch now."_

_Chloe smiled and did the same thing. "We've got to start doing this together, so he'll be comfortable whether it's you or me."_

_Softly, Lex sang again, and both watched as the baby's eyes fluttered closed. "...And if that diamond ring turns brass.... I'm gonna buy you a looking glass... And if that looking glass gets broke.... I'm gonna buy you a little toy boat..."_

_Chloe leaned against him and laid her head on top of his. She closed her eyes and breathed._

"What do you know, dad?" Lucas finally asked.

"I don't know anything."

"How are we going to help Lex if we can't even trust each other enough to tell the whole truth?" Lucas sighed. There wasn't much to tell. It was either that or Lex was screwed. Lucas needed to speak with this Claire Foster. If the contents of Lex's dream were memories, he could not allow the psychiatrist to treat Lex as though he was having hallucinations. First though, Lucas needed to ask Chloe how far he could go, how much he could reveal to the stranger.

After freshening up, Lex Luthor had one mission in mind. He needed to find her. A kiss in the darkened morgue was one thing. When he started dreaming of a family with her though, he knew this was more than a brother needing to have the same thing his brother had. Lex wanted Chloe. More than that, he wanted a future with Chloe.

He drove to Chloe's house thinking of the best way to reintroduce their agreement. She would stick to it, even if her one-word agreement to his request had not been mentioned again. She would leave Lucas and after a respectable period of time, Lex could be with her.

Lex stopped a few yards away from the Sullivan driveway. He saw there his brother getting out of his car with a shopping bag. Lucas walked up to the door and even before he rang the bell, Chloe pulled the door open and embraced him.

Was the tenderness in her kiss only an illusion? Did she not have love in her eyes when she looked up at him?

Of course he imagined all those! It would not have been possible for someone like Chloe to fall in love with him just from those few times they met. She was with his brother! Maybe he took her friendliness for something else...

Maybe he was really going crazy, just as the fact that he was seeing a psychiatrist suggest.

He probably should have shut up. In the time between the morgue and right then, Chloe could have changed her mind and decided to stay with Lucas. Lucas was getting better, after all. He had stopped the shady dealings and had even started to observe the factory operations. Lex should be happy for them. Chloe was turning Lucas into a responsible young man. Lucas though was not getting anywhere into putting a smile on Chloe's face.

If he were a better man, he would have shut up and let them be. Lex was by no means close to being cannonized.

He took his phone from his pocket and sent a message.

_Was I wrong about the other night?_

He saw Chloe pull away from his brother and take her phone from her pocket. She read the message and looked up. Since he was out of her line of vision, she did not see him or his car.

_We should talk, Lex._

Lex released a sharp breath. He knew those words. He hated those words.

_Just tell me whether or not I'm wrong in expecting more from you._

_You're not. We should talk._

The statement was short, but the tightness in his chest eased.

_What's he doing there? _came his next message, as if he had every right to ask.

_Please give me the time and place. I have to look at you when we talk about this._

_Tomorrow then._

Lex watched her slip the phone back in her pocket and step aside to let Lucas in. With one last sweeping look outside, she closed the door.


	54. Asylum in Her Embrace

Chlexville Season 3

ASYLUM IN HER EMBRACE

She was exhausted. Now she understood why pregnant women needed as much rest and recreation as they could get. Chloe Sullivan had always been active as a reporter, crawling down shafts, chasing unidentified objects and running after stories. Never had she been this tired before, and all she did was ask a few questions and stop by the store.

Chloe tossed her plastic bag of purchases on her dresser and allowed herself to fall onto the bed. Unconsciously her hands rested on the swell of her belly. She was astounded at how well she hid the pregnancy. At close to five months, only Lucas and Lana knew about her condition. It was not even as if she consciously went out of her way to make the bump inconspicuous. She guessed she carried small. Her father used to tell her stories about people in her mother's office not even knowing that her mother was pregnant until she filed for a maternity leave. Chloe had always thought that he father was exaggerating until she experienced it herself.

Aside from the physical exhaustion, Chloe guessed that part of her hardship came from worrying about Lex. Knowing that the father who had claimed to love him had sent him to the madhouse, no matter how well Lionel meant, was bound to be hard on Lex. Also, Chloe had to worry about the appointment she had set with Lex.

She was so exhausted that she almost did not react when she heard her window slide open. Chloe just turned very slightly and registered that Lex had climbed whatever he had seen outside. She quickly sat up and held the sheet up to just under her chin.

"Lex, what are you doing here?"

She had needed to see him, but she made certain that she would not be tempted to drop by the castle for a visit. There was no reason for her to be there that Lex knew of. They had shared a kiss, but kisses were often and meaningless to the Lex Luthor that the world knew. Aside from that, Chloe still could not weigh Lionel Luthor's actions. He had been supportive of her when they thought that Lex had died. The money that she had been using to finance her doctor's visits also came from Lionel's… she would say heart, but she settled on bank account.

It was something very odd about the elder Luthor. He seemed so devoted to his son when Lex was gone. Now that they had retrieved Lex, Chloe questioned his faith.

"You owe me a conversation," he told her. Chloe drank in the sight of the man for whose love she had traded her youth with. He was pale, still shaken by the experience that he had gone through when he was taken to the madhouse. "I need to hear it from you."

"Lucas is important to me," she told him. "But so are you, Lex. You are so essential to my existence."

"I don't believe you," he challenged. "How can you fall out of love with my brother and in love with me so fast. We've not exchanged a hundred words with each other since we met."

Chloe took a deep breath. "Do you remember everything then?"

Lex held her gaze, then sat heavily on the edge of the bed. "Are you telling me that there are things between us that I've forgotten?"

She did not answer. Instead, Chloe reached out one hand towards him, carefully still holding the blanket to her chest. Lex hesitated, then closed his hand around hers.

"One kiss," he repeated. "That's as far as our relationship went."

Chloe twined her fingers with his. She did not need words that would force Lex to remember, because his sanity was teetering on the precipice as it was. There would be no force. Even if her heart cried at the touch and desired so much more than hold his hand.

"Are you prepared to leave Lucas for me?"

She had done so much more than leave anyone for Lex. If that was what he wanted now, she was powerless to say no even if she wanted. And she never wanted anything other than have the chance to love him. "I'm prepared to do anything for you," she answered.

Lex let go of her hand. "How am I in love with someone who can so easily decide to break someone's heart?" Chloe swallowed, because she was not willing to lose Lex because she wanted to be with him so much. "How can I not even care?" He leaned close to her and cupped her face with both of his hands.

It was a moment that would be burned into her memory eternities after the moment was gone and past. Her lips had been devoid of his kiss for so long, and like a thirsty woman she drank in all that Lex could give in that simple kiss. She had forgotten to breathe, and neglected the entire world. Chloe's arms came up and hooked around him, and she offered her entire being to the man who had left and returned for the same reason—to be hers.

In those seconds while she was lost in his embrace, Chloe recalled how close they had gotten to being together forever. Now they were going to begin again. After a promise of eternity, he had flown away and somewhere so far away, all that they had built was erased by the wind.

Was she truly willing to rebuild?

Chloe's hands clutched at his shirt, and she feared she would not be able to unclasp them anymore. Lex peppered kisses over the bridge of her nose, her temples, on the pulse points behind her earlobes. She had never felt so exposed before, not even when she made love to him. The man who loomed over her this time was virtually a stranger, unlike the devoted Lex Luthor who made love to her months ago. Yet even knowing that this Lex did not have memories of how much he really loved her, Chloe still felt protected as she bared her soul to him.

"Are you sick?"

"Wh—what?" she breathed.

Lex brushed a kiss on her eyelid, then continued, "That bag from the drugstore sitting on your dresser. I don't suppose there's a condom in there."

Chloe almost laughed at the sheer absurdity of the situation. She had no need for a condom in more ways than one. No one had ever touched her except for Lex, and he had had no inclination to touch her for sometime. Aside from that, there was no way the baby inside her would have a twin if she had sex without protection. The major cause for hilarity though was the fact that just when she almost had Lex completely, she would certainly lose him tonight.

"No," she said quickly. "I'm fine. It's my dad's." Chloe looped her arms around his neck and drew him down to her. "Kiss me. Just kiss me, please."

Chloe's lips hungrily searched for Lex. Her pleas were desperate as she tried to make Lex focus only on her, and forget the bag on the dresser. Sinful as it was, Lex allowed himself to drown in Chloe's need, because it was a fulfillment of his dreams and nightmares.

His hand cupped her breast and squeezed. Chloe moaned. She reached down and slid her hand inside his pants, recognizing his need was as great as hers.

"I love you, Lex," she breathed.

"I love you more," was his response.

As his hand drew lower, he stopped. Lex looked down at her in confusion. Chloe swallowed heavily. She felt where Lex's hand had touched, and she knew why Lex stopped. When confusion dissolved into betrayal, and Lex straightened, then grabbed the sheet that separated them, Chloe's eyes flooded with tears. Lex glared at her in disgust.

"I should have known," she heard him say.

Lex furiously ripped the blanket away from her and stared down at her body. Lex bunched the hem of her nightshirt and drew it up. He splayed his hand over the obvious belly.

"You were willing to leave Lucas for me?" he said in disbelief. Lex stood and strode towards the dresser. He dumped the contents of the bag on the dresser. Some bottles rolled down and onto the carpeted floor. He took one and read the prescription. "You were willing to leave him when you were carrying his baby?" Lex furiously buttoned up his shirt. "I should've known," he hissed. "Whatever he saw in you, I would never understand!"

When Lex reached for the doorknob, Chloe called out his name. "Lex!" He slammed out of the room. "Lex, come back!"

fin

Tune in to Chlexville: Whisper Forgotten Life

What happens when Lucas learns of what happened to Chloe and Lex in that room?


	55. Whisper Forgotten Life

Chlexville Season 3

WHISPER FORGOTTEN LIFE

"What do you want?" Chloe asked, her voice dropped low and raspy. "I'm at school." She looked around quickly, then said, "This isn't the best place to talk. I don't even know if we should still be talking about it. I'm done with this, Lucas."

On the other end of the line, her remaining lifeline said slowly, intently, "You have to talk about this. You will not run away from this, Chloe. I'm going to swing by and you are going to tell me why Lex slammed into his study last night and hasn't come out since. Only one person can affect him like this, Chloe. I know he's been to your place."

"No!" she cried out too quickly. "Don't come here. It would be too suspicious."

"Then you are going to a private room and you are going to talk to me. Is anyone around?"

"No one can hear me," she assured Lucas. "I can't even believe you're calling me, especially after everything that's happened. I'm not ready to talk, Lucas."

"Then when will you be ready?" he demanded.

"I don't know!" She heaved a deep sigh. "He came to my house. He wanted to be with me. I told him I would leave you. And then… he found out."

She could almost hear his jaw clench. "Did you think he wouldn't when you were up close?"

"No one else did."

"Lex looks at you so much more closely than anyone else ever does," he informed her, as if she had not experienced evidence of it.

She shook her head. "Your brother is a brilliant man. He should be able to connect the dots by himself."

"And he probably would," Lucas agreed, "if all his faculties are working fine." He was reluctant to say the next words, but he knew he had as much responsibility to Chloe as he had to Lex to say them. "Lex isn't the same man you fell in love with Chloe. Right now I don't see you fighting to get back what you lost. Do you still want to be with him?"

"I fell in love with a boy. He was definitely not the man from last year, or the year before that. I'd always love Lex, no matter what's left of him," she confessed. "That doesn't mean I will find it easy, Lucas." She clutched at the phone so tightly, because there were things she did not want to admit.

"That's alright," he assured her. "We can work with that. Nobody will ever say it's easy. Chloe, your relationship is by no means stable. The crack is horrid and so conspicuous," he continued. "I see the way he looks at you, even without the memory of where you guys started. I see him and I see you, and I know that crack never reached the foundation."

"The pressure—"

"It's going to turn coal into diamond," he cut her off, with a faint smile in his voice. "When you finally get him back, Chloe, nothing on earth can shatter you."

Meanwhile, in the castle, Lucas turned off the phone and strode to Lex's study. He had not presumed the night before, especially because he was not armed with any facts. Now, with Chloe's brief and emotionless version of the story, he was able to conclude basic truths. The colder the message relayed, the hotter was the fire that burned underneath.

He did not knock. Instead, he pounded on the door with his fist. Then, Lucas barged in using the housemaid's key. He saw Lex pouring himself a glass of orange juice.

"Lex," Lucas began, "I don't have much time. I need to talk to you about something."

The older brother's eyes flickered at Lucas, and then he looked down into the juice in his glass. "There's something I need to tell you as well."

"Go ahead."

Lex tipped the glass back and emptied it of its contents in one gulp. "When I came back, I thought this would be hell. I had no memory, and even in amnesia I knew dad wouldn't really care about me. You made it all better, Lucas." Lucas stared at his brother and saw him as vulnerable for the first time. "And then I had to go and fuck it up by falling in love with your girlfriend." Lucas shook his head. "This is humiliation. I despise myself."

"That's stupid," Lucas told him.

"I wanted her for myself. God, she's pregnant with your baby and I still want her for myself!" Lex covered his eyes with the back of his hand. "They were right to put me in an institution. This is sick."

"Lex, please," Lucas said, taking his wrist and pulling the hand away. "Listen to me. There's nothing wrong with what you feel." When he saw his brother about to protest, Lucas squeezed Lex's wrist. "It's true, Lex. I have been disappointed with your performance in the past, but that's nothing I haven't said to you. We dealt with it, and it's over. I've gotten to respect you since. You were the better Luthor son. You were probably the better human being, only time will judge. I've come to accept that."

"If you're saying that as the better one I can have Chloe, you're insane, Lucas. She's going to have a baby."

Lucas nodded. "She is," came his agreement. "It's not mine though."

"Then whose—"

"It's yours."

Lex stared at Lucas blankly. Then, he shook his head. He waited for Lucas to reveal the entire hurtful joke. When nothing came, Lex sputtered, "But that's impossible. She's five months along, by the looks of it. If that were mine, we'd have slept together—" he trailed off.

"That's right," Lucas murmured softly, allowing the answer to sink in.

"I cheated on Helen," was Lex's conclusion.

Lucas shook his head. "You were never Helen's, Lex."

A whisper brushed by swiftly, softly against the curtains of his memory.

_i"Just hold on, okay?" _

_Chloe nodded. "I'm holding on." _

_"Good." He kissed her on the lips. "It's the best that we can do right now. Just think of how much happier we'll be when this is through."/i_

Lex closed his eyes and convinced himself it was only a dream.

"All those nightmares that you've been getting treated for, even the ones that haunted you so much—they weren't nightmares," he told him. "They weren't signs of sickness, Lex."

Lex swallowed, and kept his eyes closed. He was far from succeeding in the battle against oblivion, but he recognized more and more scenes from a distant memory filled with fear and anger and worry… Most of all, they were scenes of need and of love. "We were going to get married when I came back for her." Only he did not come back. He left and sent an inadequate substitute.

"She was your forgotten life," Lucas concluded. "And you've broken her heart one too many times, Lex."

fin

Tune in to Chlexville: DELETE ALL TRACES

Someone in Smallville wants Chloe dead. Will Lex and Lucas be able to reach her before the mysterious emails cause her fall?


	56. Delete All Traces

Chlexville Season 3

DELETE ALL TRACES

For the past few months it seemed that nothing went as planned in Chloe Sullivan's life. She had been given a taste of everything she had ever dreamed of. She had been promised a lifetime with the only man she knew would ever make her heart race the way he did. Lionel Luthor had given her all the core of her dream career.

Now it would all be taken away. When her world crumbled, it was an explosion.

Now she was blacklisted from the newspaper that had been her fantasy employer. Her father lost his job. And worst of all, Lex barely remembered her.

As she packed away the possibility of reaching her goals, the man she respected opened the door to his office and asked her in. She handed over the diskette that contained her investigations. Chloe would make sure that even if she did not get the glory of her byline, the world would know what it was that she truly represented in this play.

Maybe someday her baby would believe her if she told him or her that she had been a brave young woman. Chloe grinned sadly when she thought about whatever spunk that the baby would inherit with her, and Chloe imagined the baby scoffing and saying that the articles were Aunt Lois' because that was the name printed on the paper. Chloe wouldn't be able to blame the kid.

Meanwhile, Lex Luthor had been working in his office, trying to push away the words that Lucas had fed into him. He had absolutely no recollection apart from those nightmares. If Chloe had been such a huge part of his life, enough to create a baby that still appeared in his dreams, there would be countless traces in his small world. He searched for pictures or notes, or little gifts. However, he came up with a bug in his system that just would not allow him to continue any frantic search.

Frustrated with the situation, he strode to the tech department to get the problem fixed. When he arrived, a slender brunette greeted him. Molly was the representation of everything that used to attract him – intelligent eyes, dark hair, good height and slim figure. When he met her though, all he could think of was how the immediate block in his computer could be fixed so that he could push through in his search.

Molly presented him with a CD containing the antivirus. When the woman gave him a flirtatious, "Are you a do-it-yourselfer or do you need me to do it for you?" all Lex could do was take the antivirus from her and tamp down on the shudder. "I think I can handle it."

Lex made his way back to his office. As he passed by the elevator, the doors slid open and the look on his brother's face made him stop.

"Lucas," he said grimly.

Lucas stepped off the elevator and motioned towards the corridor leading to Lex's office. "We need to talk."

Lex did not budge. Instead, he demanded, "Tell me now. Is it about Chloe?"

Lucas nodded. "We need to talk in your office. I need you to sit down."

"Is there something wrong with the baby?"

"I'm not sure," Lucas admitted.

"What the hell do you mean you're not sure? What happened, Lucas?" Before Lucas could request that they go to his office, Lex grabbed his brother's arm. "If you're not going to tell me now, I'm going to leave right now and find out for myself."

Lucas had told him over and over again that Chloe was just not ready to face him again yet. In return, and perhaps in penance, Lex had stepped back waiting for Chloe to give a sign that she was going to be ready.

"She's in the hospital, Lex. I don't have everything, but it seems that Clark Kent almost ran over her." When Lex moved to reach for the elevator button, Lucas stopped him. "I'm going there right now. Stay here." Lex started to protest. "Unless you can calm down and think of the first thing you can say to her that will not hurt her, or crush her, you'd better stay here."

Those words, in the same way they did before, halted Lex. He had sworn to see Chloe again as a complete person, who can truthfully fulfill any promise he may have given her. He would not touch her again until he remembered everything.

"I'm going to kill Clark if he hurt her," he whispered. He took the blow to his ego when Lucas patted him on the back and left to see Chloe in the hospital, to take the place that Lex should have beside her.

He did the next best thing. Lex walked back to his office and took the phone, then dialed Clark's number. "Where are you?"

"I'm on my way home." Clark sighed. "I don't know if you heard—"

"I heard," Lex cut him off. "What happened there, Clark?" he asked, struggling to keep his emotions hidden from his voice.

"Look, Lex, the last thing I remember, I was in the library. I was working on my history paper. That's it. I don't even remember leaving the library," he explained, feeling more than a little bit on the defensive.

"And how is Ms Sullivan?" Lex inquired softly.

"She's cut up a bit, but she's going to be all right."

"I don't know what's going on Lex. I never wanted to hurt her."

"This is serious, Chloe. If Clark is trying to hurt you, I'm going to take you out of here right now," Lucas said into the phone.

Chloe bit her lip as she walked through the corridors. "I need to find out what really happened."

"Do you have any idea how close that was?"

Chloe rolled her eyes. "I was the one facedown on concrete, Lucas," she reminded him. "Of course I'm aware of the danger. Wait. I see Lana. I'll see you at the front in about ten minutes."

"Lana, hey!" Chloe called out. "I've been looking for you."

Lana grabbed Chloe by the hair and slammed her head against the bulletin board. With her other hand, Lana grabbed Chloe's arm and whipped her around, then to Chloe's horror, Lana threw her down a nearby flight of stairs. The moment she knew she was going to fall, Chloe wrapped her arms protectively around her middle, then stopped on the landing. She heard people screaming around her, and she wished Lucas would, out at the front of the school, hear the chaos and take her. There was no pain, but Chloe knew she would need to go to the hospital soon, because Lana was not done.

Chloe got to her feet, terrified at the sight of Lana for the first time in her life. She felt a sting on her forehead and knew she was bleeding.

"What are you doing?" she demanded. This was no roughhousing. Lana knew she was pregnant. She reached inside her pocket for her phone and pushed on her speedial for Lucas' number.

The next words chilled her. "Killing Chloe Sullivan."

Lana spun and kicked Chloe at the back. Chloe rolled down the next flight of stairs. Chloe stopped at the landing and got to her feet. Lana's next kick was aimed at Chloe's stomach. Chloe tried to dodge Lana's foot with her arms, and prevented the power of the kick from being centered on her belly. She slammed up against the wall behind her. It was then that she felt the ripping pain inside her. Chloe stumbled forward and wanted to scream. Lana punched her in the face and Chloe tripped down the next few steps. She was not going to let Lana kill her baby just like this. She ran down the next few steps, with Lana close behind her. Chloe felt a hot trickle between her legs, and blinked away the tears that threatened. When the pain intensified, she held on to the railing for balance.

When Lana grabbed onto Chloe's jacket, Chloe grabbed on to Lana and shook her back and forth. She fought through the pain, because it was her only chance to keep her baby alive. Chloe whipped Lana around then punched her in the face, causing the brunette to fall down the stairs.

Lucas came running and stopped to see Lana at his feet, winded but raring to fight. He looked up and saw Chloe clutching at the railing and at her stomach. Lana stood and broke the glass of the fire hose. She grabbed the ax and started up the stairs. Lucas could not decide if he needed to call an ambulance or 911, or just grab Chloe and drive. When he saw Lana climbing the stairs, he grabbed her hair and pulled back sharply, causing her to miss her step and fall down with the ax, knocking herself out in the process.

"Aaaahh." Chloe clutched at her stomach and sat down heavily on the step.

Lucas ran up to her and took her by her arms. "Come on. We're going to the hospital," he said quietly.

Chloe looked up at him, and she could finally cry. She placed her hand between her legs quickly, and it came up with a stain of blood. "Oh God," she whispered.

When Lucas saw this, he picked her up in his arms and quickly rushed through the crowd. The people left behind stared at the small stain of blood left where Chloe Sullivan had been sitting. As Lucas passed by her, Lana regained consciousness. She sat up, shaking her head. "What happened?" she murmured.

Lana looked up around her and heard everyone whispering theatrically.

"Lana Lang kicked the hell of Chloe Sullivan."

"Chloe Sullivan's pregnant."

"She threw her down the stairs."

"Look at that blood."

"Did you see his leather jacket?"

"How the hell did Chloe Sullivan land Lucas Luthor?"

Lucas ran through the glass doors of the hospital. "I need a doctor!" he yelled.

Several nurses pushed a gurney towards him and Lucas put Chloe on it. Chloe grabbed his jacket. Lucas quickly wiped away the tears in her eyes, and was horrified to see her face stained with blood. When he looked down at his arms, he saw blood.

"It's not Lana's fault," she said.

"Chloe, you're going to be fine."

Chloe shut her eyes tightly when pain ripped through her. She shook her head. "Listen to me. I want you to remember something, if anything happens." Lucas nodded, because she looked so desperate. "If Lex remembers everything, and…" she trailed off. "Just… tell him it's not Lana. And it's not Clark. Tell him… don't hurt them."

"Lex wouldn't—" Lucas denied, but he knew… Once Lex knew what happened, and definitely if Chloe or the baby did not survive this, Lana Lang would be dead by morning.

"Sir, please let us take her," one of the nurses said. Lucas felt himself being pushed away as they wheeled Chloe in.

tbc

AN: It's the first time I'm cutting an episode in half.  That's what's new in Chlexville. It's the only way we can keep the fic alive. Tune in later for the rest of DELETE.

PS. I bought the S3 DVD. I had to delete most of the fight scene. Remember, Season 3 Chlexville is all about drifting away from most of the stuff on the series.


	57. From Now Until Hereafter

Chlexville Season 3

FROM NOW UNTIL HEREAFTER

The emergency room doors flew open and Lex's pale stunned face turned to stop when he saw his brother sitting bloody on one of the white plastic chairs. Lex stumbled towards Lucas, whose lips were still blue from shock. He fell onto the chair beside his. Lex's eyes were captivated by the morbid horror of Lucas' stained arms.

Lex felt the tremors racking his body. Lucas did not need to say the words. With the short statement over the phone, Lex had known to expect that life would deal him the same unjust blow it had been dealing him for the past year. Once more, the guilt that ate him before all this began, threatened to suffocate him.

"Go to the hospital. Now," was Lucas' message. The context was clear. Lex had to break all traffic laws to make it.

She had been so young and fun-loving, carefree in a way that he had never been all his life. Consciously he had taken it away from her. Now here she was; so was he.

"Who was it, Lucas?" Lex rasped.

Lucas remembered the promise Chloe had made him give as she was wheeled away on the gurney. He shook his head.

Cold steel eyes regarded him in anger that hid most of the grief. "You owe me," Lex said, playing a card that he had sworn he was too noble to use with his brother.

The younger Luthor blinked for a few minutes. His gaze focused, then he answered, "I owe her too."

Lex took a deep breath. "You have to know that whether or not it comes from you, I will find out who did this."

"The last thing she asked me before they took her away," Lucas shared, "was to tell you not to hurt them."

Lex sucked in the tears that threatened, then covered his face with his hands. Every night he remembered a moment. Each hour he fought to relive the dreams and the nightmares he had tried so hard to forget. Nothing would be relegated to oblivion anymore. Not now. Not when he had a family waiting for him to remember.

He shot up from his seat, regarding his brother with red-rimmed eyes. "Stay with her."

"Where are you going?" Lucas demanded in a low growl. Chloe was inside, her life hanging in the balance. Lex was not going to walk out on her now.

"I'm going to make sure no one hurts my family again."

He knew where Summerholt was. He had learned enough from Clark. Maybe, Lex thought, maybe he could persuade him to infuse him with the lost memories once again. He might then be good enough to take care of her.

"Stay, Lex," Lucas bit out. "She's going to need you when she wakes up."

But that was what he avoided. Lex did not want to be sitting there helpless when the doctor stepped outside in his blood-spattered gown to tell him that the young woman who had waited in vain for the return of the man who promised to come back for her, would not wake up.

"I have to go," Lex said stiffly.

Clark was on his way to the Talon when he saw Pete running towards him with Jordan. Pete did not really hang around with the boy before, so Clark was curious about why the two seemed to be in such a hurry.

"Clark, we've been looking all over for you," Pete called out. He glanced at Jordan. "Who gets to do the honors?"

"What's going on?" Clark asked.

"Well it looks like Jordan has something to tell you."

Jordan swallowed heavily, then met Clark's gaze steadily. "Have you seen your friend—the editor of the Torch?"

Clark's eyes flew to Pete's. "As a matter of fact, I haven't. I haven't even heard from her. Pete?"

"Nope. She hasn't called me either."

"I heard there was a fight," Clark said. "Let her cool off."

"I was there," Jordan offered. "Her foot hit my arm when Lucas Luthor was carrying her out of the school. I see death, Clark. I'm pretty sure I saw death when we made contact."

"What?" Clark cried in disbelief. "What happened exactly?"

Lucas had fallen asleep on the chair, his chin resting on his chest. The moment he felt a weight on his shoulder, Lucas started and sat up. He looked up expecting the doctor. Lucas frowned when he saw Clark Kent leaning over him.

This was the boy who had almost run over Chloe.

"What are you doing here?"

"Lucas, is Chloe okay?" Clark asked urgently.

"I don't know, Clark. Where the hell were you when Lana Lang was beating her up?"

Clark flinched. "That wasn't within our control, Lucas. There was someone else controlling us."

"Why are you even here?" Lucas continued edgily, unwilling to soften towards Clark. "You know, I think Lex is looking for you."

The taller boy shook his head. "Listen, Lucas, you've gotta take Chloe away from here."

"She's still inside," Lucas told him. "She's probably going to have to stay here for some time after what happened."

Clark bit his lip, not knowing if he was supposed to divulge information that would label his new friend as a meteor freak. "Lucas, I know in good authority that Chloe's in danger here. You have to take her away for her own safety."

"News flash, Kent. She's already in danger. I'm in a hospital waiting room, for God's sake!"

"It's not that!" Clark exloded. "She's in another type of danger. People are working to kill her, Lucas. You probably blame Lana but she's not the one who's going to kill her. My friend saw an explosion, a big one at her house. Someone's planted a bomb there or is going to plant a bomb… I don't know exactly. What I know is you have to take her away."

From above Clark's shoulder, Lucas saw the doctor handling Chloe's case step out into the waiting room. He pushed Clark away and stood up. At the movement, the doctor looked towards him.

Lucas' heart flew to his throat when he saw the doctor's somber expression. He forced his legs to move. His hand slid inside his pocket to grip his phone. He was going to call Lex within the next five minutes.

He hoped to God it wasn't a call he would dread.

"Mr Luthor," the doctor began. "You came with Mss Sullivan, didn't you?" continued the man, although assessing Lucas' clothes ascertained the fact.

"What is it?" Lucas choked. He barely felt Clark brush by him when the farmboy stepped beside him.

The doctor sighed, tired eyes sullen and forehead creased. "We did everything we could..."

He was a caged animal as he searched the town for the two people he wanted to hurt the most. Clark had sent her to the hospital, and he had settled it with the boy. Lex would speak to him again. However, this time, he needed to see Lana. At first, Lex could not believe that the pretty girl would have enough strength in her to hurt Chloe as much as he had. He trusted his sources. He received eerie video taken from a student's videomail capable phone that attested to the fact.

Lana had endangered Chloe's and his baby's lives.

"They say music hath charms to soothe the savage breast," Lex drawled as he watched Adam playing the piano in the Talon.

Adam glanced up and read Lex's shuttered expression easily. "I wouldn't count on it. Looks like my music had no effect on your mood."

"I'm not that gullible," Lex answered, "unlike most people whose lives are swayed by the tinkle of a few keys and the thrum of guitar strings."

The pianist allowed the music to flow into his veins as he moved with the chords. "My parents would have killed for a piano like this." His fingers stopped on the keys. "You want to see Lana, don't you?"

"It's not about you at the moment. Don't worry," Lex assured him in a cool voice.

Adam nodded. "That's good to hear. Unfortunately, Mr Luthor, Lana's not around. You just missed her. I'll be sure to tell her you stopped by."

"Care to tell me where she's headed?" Lex would not let her go this time.

"Clark Kent called and she left because it was an emergency. She went to the hospital to meet him."

Lex turned on his feet, stalking towards the exit.

"Mr Luthor," Adam called.

Lex stopped at the door and turned his head.

"I heard what Clark told Lana. Please tell your brother I'm sorry to hear about that."

Chilled him to the very bone.

tbc


End file.
